From May 1-7, 2022, Charlotte Water joined water utilities and professional organizations across the country in celebrating National Drinking Water Week. This annual awareness event is a wonderful opportunity for our entire community to recognize the vital role of water in our daily lives.
Last week, Charlotte Water also connected with youth across Mecklenburg County by conducting read along events at schools and community partners and donating copies of the book to their permanent libraries.
The 2022 Water Week theme: “There When You Need It,” underscores different aspects of the reliability of our drinking water. In just one day, think about all the ways you use clean drinking water in your daily routine. From basic hygiene like brushing our teeth, cooking water, and hydrating our bodies and our pets. It’s also a great reminder that there are still many places that do not have access to clean and reliable water resources.
To participate in water awareness activities for Water Week (or any time of the year!), you and your family can purchase a copy of the book online, watch a read along on YouTube, or do a free activity book provided by the American Waterworks Association.
This week and every week is a great opportunity to learn more about the importance of clean drinking water and the essential role we have as a community to protect and share this vital resource. Visit charlottewater.org to learn more about how you can celebrate drinking water in your life!
Charlotte Water Completes Remount Water Main Pipe Break Repair, New Pipe Placed into Service
The newly installed pipe was treated and water quality tests were performed before pipe activation.
(Charlotte, N.C.) On Monday, February 14, Charlotte Water crews reactivated the section of 36-inch ductile iron pipe newly installed under Irwin Creek near Remount Road bridge, putting the new water main pipe into service. Crews have been working since November 2021 to repair, remove and replace the previous pipe damaged in a break in October 2021.
During the extensive repair, crews replaced more than 250 feet of pipe. Charlotte Water collaborated closely with County and City partners to protect the integrity of the bridge, the quality of the creek, and the safety of the crews working in the complex location. With the pipe repair completed, Charlotte Water crews will continue site clean-up and restoration for the next few weeks. Charlotte Water will continue to evaluate 21,000 feet of the remaining 36-inch pipe for any possible defects.
“Every day, Charlotte Water routinely repairs and maintains water and sewer pipes across our entire service area,” says Charlotte Water Director Angela Charles. “It’s important that we are doing all that we can to keep customers’ trust in our ability to provide clean, safe and reliable water service to the Charlotte region.”
In 2021, Charlotte Water installed or rehabilitated more than 66,000 feet of pipe across the water system and invested $395.4 million into capital project improvements.
To stay up to date on the most recent events and announcements, follow Charlotte Water on Twitter @CLTWater. For more information on other pipe replacement and restoration projects, visit us at CharlotteWater.org.
Updates November 2021
Charlotte Water crews have been removing and replacing the 36-inch water main pipe that was damaged during the Remount water main break on October 18. While work is expected to continue for the next few weeks, here are a few things you should know about this break, and overall pipe leaks and repair.
Fast Facts:
WHAT is the cause of the Remount Water main break? There are several factors that can cause a pipe to break, including change in temperature, age and external damage. In this case, because it is underground and several feet beneath a creek, it’s hard to determine the exact cause of this pipe break.
WHEN will the repair be completed? Crews have removed the broken pipe and are replacing it with the new ductile iron pipe. Work is expected to take a few weeks, primarily due to the location, as crews carefully work in the creek and around the bridge.
WHY am I seeing other leaks? Charlotte Water crews regularly respond to a variety of leaks that are categorized as minor, priority or emergency. We then work quickly to resolve the issue and restore service to customers. Most repairs are on service lines (between the water main under the street and the customer’s water meter). Did you know that under many of our major roads there are multiple water pipes serving different areas of the county?
WHO should I call if I see a leak? If you see or suspect a leak, call 3-1-1 or 704-336-7600 so that Charlotte Water can quickly dispatch a crew to the location.
WHERE can I go to learn more about Charlotte Water pipe repair and rehabilitation? Charlotte Water staff are working 24/7 to maintain more than 8,000 miles of water and wastewater pipes. To learn more about a water and sewer improvement project near you, visit the Projects page at charlottewater.org.
On December 3rd, the EPA announced that Charlotte Water’s $169 million Mallard Creek Sewer Basin Wastewater Collection and Treatment Improvements program achieved one of 39 new invitations to the competitive Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) loans program.
Charlotte Water is excited and proud to apply for funding under the EPA’s WIFIA program. Funding for Charlotte Water projects allows us to leverage rate payer fees to make critical improvements to our community’s aging infrastructure.
The EPA’s WIFIA program helps empower borrowers across the United States to achieve their infrastructure improvement goals through financial tools targeted at keeping rates affordable for large projects.
The Mallard Creek Sewer Basin Wastewater Collection and Treatment Improvements program is part of Charlotte Water’s five-year, $1.7 billion capital plan. This plan is part of the City’s Community Investment Program, or CIP, which appropriates dollars from specific funding sources for capital, or construction and improvement projects. Charlotte Water’s CIP projects place Charlotte in a position to ensure local and regional growth. To learn more about Community Investment, please see our webpage.
Mallard Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant and Improvements
Charlotte Water plans to make infrastructure improvements to add capacity to the Mallard Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant over the next few years. The plant was built in 1979 and handles wastewater treatment for residents and businesses in the Mallard Creek and Back Creek basins.
In the past few years, the Mallard Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant has operated close to its allowed limit and is expected to exceed it by 2021. This is due to increased growth in the area aligned with the extension of the Blue Line from Uptown Charlotte to UNC Charlotte.
This project will increase the allowed limit to phased levels of expansion, expected to accommodate current and expected growth over the next three to 12 years. Expanding the capacity is critical in order to accommodate development in the area. Stay tuned about this and other capital improvement projects on our projects page.
In order to repair a broken water main, the location of the break has to be isolated by using pre-installed valves. There are 85,547 water main valves throughout our system. In most cases, this process requires us to turn off water access to nearby customers before working on a pressurized main. An inconvenience for some, but for others like critical care facilities, can be a matter of life or death. That is where a new insertion valve comes in.
The valve can be installed on an existing in-service main and allows us to perform maintenance or repairs without shutting down nearby blocks of the water distribution system.
Staff are currently being trained to install these special valves, and have already installed four in critical areas.
Crew 422 with Crew Chief Travis Cutherbertson and Delmond Cummings installing an insertion valve in Cornelius.
The goal is that at least one crew in every one of our four zones is trained on this specialized valve insertion process so that when a repair is needed near a critical facility, we can install the valve and eliminate the need for a water outage.
Labor Crew Chief and insertion valve project manager Delmond Cummings says, “These valves use fewer fittings, meaning less chance of leaks to the distribution system. The hydraulic integrity of this equipment helps reduce turning off residents or community water for extended periods of time for repair. With this training, employees learn new methods and technologies that upgrade/enhance their knowledge and skill level.“
Though we can’t guarantee that a water outage won’t occur during a repair or routine maintenance of our distribution system, we hope that with the addition of these types of valves in our toolkit, we can minimize disruption to our customers.
This is just one of the many ways that our staff are working to improve the resiliency of a system that protects public health and the environment.
