Key takeaways
- Private mains between a master meter and the buildings are the association's, and most were installed when the complex was built.
- One break on a 40-year-old main is a maintenance item; the second is a signal that the whole main is at the same age and condition.
- A scheduled overnight master-meter test and a locate-and-trace of the mains is cheap relative to one emergency.
- Planned replacement in continuous HDPE can be phased building by building.
What the association owns
On a multi-building property the utility's responsibility ends at the master meter. Everything after it, the private main that runs between buildings, the branches into each building, the valves and the irrigation feed, belongs to the association. Most of it was installed when the complex was built, in whatever material was standard then, and most complexes in the county date from the 1970s through the 1990s. That puts a lot of private mains at the end of their expected life at the same time.
Reading the signs
A master bill that has crept up over several years with no change in occupancy. Pressure complaints from the far buildings. A wet patch in the common area that the landscaper keeps blaming on irrigation. A break that was repaired two years ago and another one last spring. Individually each is a maintenance call; together they're a main telling you what it's made of.
The assessment
An overnight master-meter test when use is lowest quantifies any loss. Isolating buildings one at a time at their shutoffs attributes it. Tracing the mains with a locator produces the as-built drawing nobody has. If there's a loss, acoustic locating finds it. The output is a map of the system, a number for what it's losing, and a candid opinion on the material and condition, which is what the board needs to decide between continuing to repair and planning a replacement.
Repair or replace, at scale
The math is the same as for a house, multiplied. A spot repair on a sound main with a single failure is right. A main that has failed twice, or is thin-wall pipe or polybutylene throughout, is going to keep failing, each time at night, each time with a flooded common area and a water shutoff for every unit. Planned replacement in continuous HDPE can be phased by building or by run, scheduled for dry months, and done with residents informed in advance instead of at midnight.
What goes in the reserve study
The as-built map, the material and age of each run, the failure history, and a recommended replacement window with a budget range from a contractor who has looked at the system. A board that has that document makes a planned decision; a board that doesn't makes an emergency one.
Written by the crew at 360 Leak Finders
We locate, excavate and repair buried water lines and exterior drains across Kitsap County, 24 hours a day. If this guide raised a question about your property, call (206) 354-9906.