Water connection has Troy gushing
Massive new mains replace versions over a century old
“We’ve buried $23 million worth of pipe and water that nobody will ever see.”
— Chris Wheland, utilities superintendent
TROY — After 10 years of planning, digging and laying twin 36-inch water mains, the city is ready to complete the first phase of its Tomhannock water transmission line replacement project and directly connect the new mains to the treatment plant.
“It’s hairy,” Mayor Patrick Madden said Wednesday about the final connection that will be made next week following nearly two years of construction.
At the construction site off Falcon Lane, Madden stood above the hole where crews worked on the 60-inch waterline that provides the final link to the water treatment plant. They were preparing to fit the mammoth main with a new pipe that brings the two smaller 36-inch mains together through two branches.
“It’s a crucial time. It’s like you have the last two questions on an exam and a minute-and-a-half to answer,” Chris Wheland, the city superintendent of public utilities, said about the final 10 days before the new waterlines are permanently connected.
The two new 36-inch, 4-mile-long ductile iron water mains were coated in zinc and an asphalt top coat, then wrapped in plastic to protect them before they were installed and buried. They replace a 30-inch cast iron main installed in 1903 and a 33-inch riveted steel main installed in 1911-12. The installation of the new mains will end city officials’ worries about having to deal with a major waterline break in the woods that would be difficult to access and fix. Construction began in May 2021.
The mains will carry 21 million gallons of water daily from the Tomhannock Reservoir in Pittstown to the treatment plant from where the water flows to 135,000 customers in the cities of Troy and Rensselaer as well as the towns of East Greenbush, North Greenbush, Brunswick, Schaghticoke and Poestenkill in Rensselaer County, the town of Halfmoon and village of Waterford in Saratoga County and the village of Menands in Albany County.
Troy has reduced the flow to 15 million gallons after filling reserve tanks in order to lower the pressure as the new connection is made. The new transmission mains currently send water through a temporary bypass to the treatment plant.
“A lot of thought and planning has gone into this,” Madden said.
The new water mains are expected to last at least 250 years or roughly 10 generations. Madden said it’s an example of planning to provide for future residents so they don’t have to worry about their drinking water. Wheland said the planning also permits the city to handle additional customers as development continues.
This first phase was planned at a cost of about $23 million. The new mains run 4 miles east from Troy where they connect to the old mains that continue to carry the water the first 3 miles from the reservoir. The water is gravity fed along the 7-mile route to the treatment plant. The water literally flows downhill from Pittstown to Troy.
The second phase will install an additional 3 miles to each of the new water mains, Wheland said. Those lines will have to be placed in trenches 50 feet to 60 feet deep. When they are built, the entire 7-mile stretch from the reservoir to the water treatment plant will be connected with the new water mains. This is expected to take about two years to complete. The city will be going out to bid for this work.
“We’ve buried $23 million worth of pipe and water that nobody will ever see,” Wheland said about the new mains.