Missouri American Water on Thursday started its biggest replacement of aging water mains for this year in Jefferson City.
For more than a mile, from Hayselton Drive and Boonville Road to Hayselton and East Circle Drive, old 6-inch cast-iron lines are being replaced with newer 8-inch plastic PVC pipes. New valves and hydrants also are being installed.
Company officials said the project will cost nearly $1 million.
"This is a section of main break problems which have resulted in water quality issues," Missouri American Spokesman Brian Russell said. "Our intent is by putting in the new line we'll illuminate those issues. We've just completed several upgrades at our treatment plant on West High Street; and while that helps, when you have breaks or other issues with the lines, then you lose what you've done at the plant to improve water quality."
Stockman Construction is doing the work, and the project is expected to be done in late July.
The first upgrades were made on Stadium Boulevard to Monroe and Adams streets, which was done between late February and late April.
Russell said the next project they're looking to do in Jefferson City would be on Bald Hill Road. For next year they're considering replacing a section near Missouri Boulevard and Dix Road where a break occurred last fall.
In January alone, Missouri American repaired more than 1,400 water main breaks across the state, Russell said.
"Hayselton was one of the top priorities for us," said Brent Haas, Missouri American's Jefferson City operations manager. "We've had a number of breaks here and a large amount of water-quality issues."
Haas said the current unlined cast iron pipes on Hayselton contribute to some of the water-quality issues they face. He noted some of the cast-iron pipes in town could be as old as 50-100 years, with the last such pipes probably installed in the 1960s.
"New PVC, just like you would expect, would not make any alterations to the water whatsoever," he said. "It will keep the water clean and hopefully be in service for a long time."
Hass said they don't remove the old pipe, but rather place the new pipe on one side of the old. They then flush the new pipe, treat it and test it before putting it into service.