HSV Director Ken Unger discussed replacing 2 failing water mains

Unger explained the important need for
replacement of two defective water mains

Ken Unger, Public Services Director, and Chris Boutzale, Water and Wastewater Superintendent, discussed replacing two frequently failing water mains at the Wednesday, February 21, 2024, Board Meeting. The main replacements were for 1,400 linear feet of 6″ water main on Galeon Way and 1,240 linear feet of 8” water main on Gancho Way.

Because these pipes were not initially properly installed, they experience repeated failures due to the pressure and tension they are under.

Unger said these replacements are consistent with the department’s approach in the past year and a half, replacing high-rate failure water mains in various parts of the village. In years past, the mains burst frequently, and while repairs were made, the mains continued to fail.

Two frequently failing water mains on Galeon and Gancho Way are projects that pose a unique situation because there are major contour changes in the road, and the mains are at high pressure with many bends.

Unger stated, “These two projects fall within the half-a-million-dollar budget we have allocated for water main replacements this year.” The combined cost for both projects is around $365,000.

Replacement of these mains reduces and eliminates multiple issues, stated the Public Services Director.

• Replacement eliminates a disruption to the community in these areas.
• Replacement will result in recovery of man-hours, which can be used for other purposes – The time to repair these lines can be applied to other self-performing projects. This saves cost.
• Replacement reduces extensive water loss when the mains burst. “When these mains break, they don’t just dribble a little bit,” said Unger. These lines are under such high pressure a line burst results in tremendous water loss.

Unger said that Valdez Construction is the low bidder for these two projects, and they have satisfactorily performed other projects for the Village.

HDPE Pipe to be used instead of PVC

Worth mentioning, said Unger, “On one of these projects, we are going to deploy a ‘new’ type of pipe, HDPE, which has fewer joints and is less expensive.” He said that, hopefully, we will deal with the vertical and horizontal bends much better than when using rigid PVC pipes.

The Director explained that the pressure-reducing station in this section of the water main on Gancho Way also needs to be replaced. Water pressure in this area is around 180 psi and should be under 150 psi. We need to replace multiple pressure-reducing stations in the area. We will do several of them ourselves. But on the Gancho Way project, we will not self-perform the replacement of the pressure-reducing station because of the intricacy of where it connects to the Cortez Main.

Both motions passed unanimously.

Here is a link to an article about a main burst on our street published on our old website, “Hot Springs Village People.”

By Cheryl Dowden

CONTACT INFORMATION FOR HSVPOA PUBLIC SERVICES DIRECTOR

Ken Unger
Director Public Services
Hot Springs Village
501-226-9609
Kunger@hsvpoa.org

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