Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Leak occurred in Harrington last summer
TD & H engineers worked hard at work restoring the waterline, which was restored on Jan. 20. The repair has taken 6 months total due to delays, weather and paperwork.
HARRINGTON - In July 2022, a concerned property owner contacted Mayor Jess Silhan about a water leak on his property. The leak was found near the railroad tracks at Second and Main Streets and came from the main water line that leads to the city's water tank.
The water was seen bubbling up under the railroad tracks. At first, the leak was a trickle, but it quickly became a more significant issue once the city saw a large discharge of water between the rails of the BNSF siding.
The current water system was installed in the 1930's. Almost 90 years ago, municipal water components were limited and steel pipes were relatively thin-walled by today's standards.
The state of the emergency was placed because the leak was located on the sole main waterline that feeds the city's water tower, which is the only source of fire protection.
Project Manager Randy Noble said corrosion had been a significant factor in various leaks around the area, including the main line break.
"Corrosion protection was created by wrapping the pipe with a webbed fabric and applying a bituminous material coating," Noble said.
Noble said the corrosion protection is failing and some slip-joint connections have seeped water, which adds to the corrosion problem.
When the leak was assessed in 2022, the city was forced to shut off the pump for the water supply to the city's only storage tank. This left the town with limited water for general use, and the area needed more fire protection.
The city notified Lincoln County and various other Washington State agencies to search and secure the funding needed to re-route and replace the leaking section of the waterline.
"The most viable plan was to route an emergency waterline atop the ground to enable water flow to the city storage tank," Noble said.
Noble said the temporary waterline restored flow within a few hours and gave the city more time to research funding options.
Due to the emergency nature of the waterline break the Public Works Trust Fund provided a $750,000 grant, which included engineering and construction for the replacement.
The project documents were prepared and sent to various agencies in Sept. 2022 and were initially scheduled for one month. However, these documents were reviewed and approved in Nov. 2022.
During the tie-in of the new piping to the existing system, a section of pipe was removed to facilitate the tie-in. This section of the line was approximately 75 feet from the section that failed.
It was discovered that the bell/ slip joint had been leaking and the pipe likely would have ruptured.
While the water system has been restored, the continued clean-up will resume in May because of winter weather delays and hard ground.
The city has retained TD&H Engineering of Spokane to assess the existing water system and provide the direction for necessary improvements. Updates will be given as progress continues.
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