Calaveras pipeline to be replaced next year

ARNOLD – The geyser that erupted from a high-pressure water line in Arnold on July 5 and disrupted traffic on Highway 4 was a warning of more leaks to come.

The last straw came two weeks ago when another leak in the same 48-year-old pipeline left about 1,000 customers in Arnold without water for three hours. Now, Calaveras County Water District officials say they’ll replace the entire 3-mile-long pipe next summer, at a cost of about $2.7 million.

The pipe has sprung seven leaks in the past year and is riddled with weak spots, said Director of Operations Bill Perley.

The main provides water to restaurants and other businesses in central Arnold as well as neighboring residential neighborhoods.

“We’re worried about everybody in that area up there,” Perley said. The most recent leak was on Wednesday.

As with similar leaks, water district repair crew members had to remove and replace a section of the 12-inch water main pipe. What they found was decay of the steel pipe’s concrete lining so severe that the concrete crumbles at the touch of a finger, Perley said.

The water main had already been on the district’s long list of infrastructure urgently needing replacement. The frequent leaks in the last year bumped it to the top of the list, Perley said.

The list of facilities needing replacement includes a number of aging redwood tanks in the Arnold area that are in danger of failing in the event of fires.

The Water District serves both water and sewer customers in Calaveras County communities including Arnold, West Point, Valley Springs and Copperopolis. Many of the district’s water lines, pumps, and treatment plants are in urgent need of replacement or repair.

The list of needed replacements has been growing because for decades elected district board members were reluctant to raise rates sufficiently to pay for that work.

In July, the board decided to approve a rate hike, although they backed off at the last minute from making it as high as district analysts said was needed. Now, water rates are rising about 57 percent over three years and sewer rates are rising by 33 percent over three years.

The replacement of the aging water main in Arnold will be the first large project under the new capital improvement plan that is being financed with the rate hike.

The water main in Arnold was installed in 1965 and is nearing the end of its designed service life of 50 years. The line is pressurized to 200 pounds per square inch.

Rather than using the concrete-lined thin-steel pipe that was installed almost five decades ago, the new line will likely use a combination of plastics and heavier grade steel, Perley said.

When the line is replaced, the district will also replace a number of pressure-reduction stations positioned where water feeds into neighborhood distribution lines.

Contact reporter Dana M. Nichols at (209) 607-1361 or dnichols@recordnet.com. Visit his blog at www.recordnet.com/calaverasblog