|
July
14, 2004 - Updated 4:55 pm -
Rockford
Water Main Break To Steer
Aspects of City's Future
Posted 7/14/04 4:04 p.m.
Updated 7/14/04 4:55 p.m.by
Sean Lewis
The sign of an aging downtown
flooded through the 300 block of
N. Church Street Wednesday with
a major water main break. It's a
sign that the City of Rockford
may have to navigate through
an expensive future replacement
and repairs.
"Several hundred gallons (of
water) per minute go through
these 12-inch water mains
downtown," says Rockford Water
Division Superintendent Tim Holdeman.
The now broken section of
cast iron water main was put in
around the time of World Wart
II.
"Some of this cast iron pipe,
which doesn't have the strength
of today's pipe, can break,"
says Holdeman.
Much of the city's water
system is the same, and is
slowly needing to be replaced as
it comes to the end of its
useful life.
Right now many cities
including Rockford are faced
with patchwork of new pipe, like
the N. Church Street project.
"You know, in an ideal
situation, we'd have new pipe
everywhere. But that's just not
feasible. It's cost
prohibitive," says Holdeman.
In fact, it would cost
millions to replace every old
water main with new equipment.
The national organization, Water
Infrastructure Network,
estimates that $1 trillion will
be spent across the country in
the next 20 years to replace
water mains and treatment
plants.
"And so if you look at the
numbers, we're on the front end
of a major nationwide
replacement of our
instrastructure," says Holdeman.
"And Rockford's no different
than other areas of the United
States."
For now, Rockford will deal
with it just like most of those
other areas- with a patch of new
pipe to make up the difference
and get the water to flow again.
This year, the City of
Rockford plans to spend just
over $2 million on water main
replacement projects.
Because of the break, a boil
order is in effect for the area
between W. State St. to the
north, Marchesano Dr. to the
south, Euclid Ave. to the west
and the Rock River to the east.
If you live in that area, you
should boil your water before
use for the next 48 hours.
|
