Replacement of water mains in Pascoag to resume this month

BURRILLVILLE – The Pascoag Utility District’s multi-phase project to clean and line nearly 30,000 linear feet of cast iron water main pipeline - which services more than 1,000 homes – will start back up this month.

The project started last summer with the contractor for the project, Biszko Contracting Corp., adding new valves and laying down temporary bypass mains along Pascoag Main Street in coordination with the Rhode Island Department of Transportation roadwork on Route 107. The work during the first phase included replacement of all valves and fire hydrants. The project’s phase one area is bounded by Pascoag Main Street, North Street, Grove Street, Centennial Street, Laurel Hill, Church Street, and Broad Street, and includes the streets within that area.

The second phase, which includes most of the village north of Pascoag Main Street, started late last year and after a long winter hiatus will resume in April.

The project is being funded with $2.4 million in loans and grants from the United States Department of Agriculture Rural Development, which were awarded to the utility district last spring.

The Pascoag Utility District’s Electric Department is Rhode Island’s only notfor-profit public power utility serving approximately 5,000 customers in the villages of Harrisville and Pascoag. The district, incorporated by a special act of the Rhode Island General Assembly, is a quasi-municipal utility that provides electricity and water on a “not for profit” basis. Pascoag Electric is regulated by the Rhode Island Public Utilities Commission. The district provides water to 1,200 water customers in Pascoag.

Michael Kirkwood, general manager and CEO of the Pascoag Utility District Kirkwood, and Board of Utility Commissioners Chairman Al Palmisciano say the district’s long-term plan is to continue to upgrade the water distribution system, which began in 2013 when the district completely refurbished water storage tanks, installed an electronic data and control system that helps monitor system conditions, and replaced many of the system’s oldest valves and hydrants.

Specifically, Pascoag Utility District was awarded a $480,000 Water and Waste Water Program grant and received a Water and Waste Water Program loan of $1.92 Million to rehabilitate its aging water system so that residents can have access to higher quality water.

Utility officials say the project as well as other ongoing improvements should go a long way towards alleviating the kind of problems water customer experienced last week with discolored water.

District officials said those customers reported clear water after the district was able to flush sediment out of the system during the weekend.

Moving forward, the district will conduct twice a year directional flushing (the aggressive scouring type of flushing) instead of once per year, most likely in the spring and fall seasons. The dis- trict will also take water storage tanks off line once or twice a year, and flush the bottom sediment from the tank, which is where the water intake is generally located.

The district is also looking into redesigning chlorine sampling points to introduce less chlorine into the system, while still being able to maintain the state required chlorine residuals across the system.