Water Lines

[AllanY2525]

Many of the water lines underneath the city of Youngstown are well over 60 to 70
years old, so it's no surprise that as they near the end of their useful life, the
water line breaks will only continue.

The Youngstown 2010 plan does indeed call for the shrinking of the city's
water, sewer and electrical systems.  In areas where entire blocks of a
neighborhood street become empty and have no more homes and buildings
on them, the city plans to disconnect the water/sewer/electric lines and
remove the streets and sidewalks.  This is an absolutely sensible approach,
as it will reduce the cost of maintaining public utilies.  In some cases,
it will probalby involve re-routing water, sewer and electric lines around
these newly created "dead zones", so some of these lines will undoubtedly
be replaced with new lines in the process.

New houses now use PVC ("Poly-Vinyl-Chloride")  plastic sewer and drain pipes,
but the type of water pipes used varies from place to place. 

[Micky]

It doesn't come as a surprise that the City didn't request Issue 2 state funding. 

What have our city leaders been thinking for all of these years?  Don't they live in the city also and have problems like the rest of us?

I've had to replace the water line, gas line, and have the basement fixed and cleaned due to the uncleaned sewer lines.  The sewer lines are only cleaned when homeowners have had problems with backup problems. 

Why are we paying taxes if the intended purposes of those taxes aren't being taken care of?

[jay]

What is the plan for these old water lines?  A percentage of them should be replaced every year.  We can not wait for 2000 years for the project to be completed.

[northside lurker]

It was about $800.

That's not as bad as I thought it was.  But it's still a hard financial blow for many.

[Maggy]

The magnitude and frequency of water breaks should come as no surprise.

This is what the last Performance Audit, in 2000 stated: That we lose 25% of our water to leaks in the system, that in the prior 15 years only 5 miles of pipe were replaced. " At this rate, it will take the city more than 2,000 years to replace all sections of pipe. Estimated future capitol costs associated with replacing water lines alone exceeds $ 160 million."

The city also failed to request Issue 2, state funding, which could have been used for this purpose.

Two rate increases and some funds still showed negative cash balances.

Monies out of water funds lent to other entities, YSU and diocese.

Plan on more leaks and collapses. 

[ForumManager]

We had to have our water line replaced.  It was about $800.
The person that did the work dug a hole in the devil strip and bored through the ground, the pipe followed as the hole was drilled.
It was pretty cool... we only had the mess in one small section... but I've seen others with trenches all the way across the yard. 
The water AND gas line went bad for the house next door.

I always wonder about sewage.  If the roots are getting in...   what is getting out?
The state has become hugely strict about septic tanks in rural areas but what about the stuff that is probably seeping out of  the pipes in the cities and suburbia.

I believe pipes in new construction are plastic. But are the main pipes feeding the construction plastic as well?

[jay]

At what point in time should we shrink the service area of the city?  Youngstown 2010 suggests doing this.  Our water line infrastructure is crumbling around us.

Question
Are pipes in new construction made of plastic or another material which will be less vulnerable the breaks?

[northside lurker]

Pipes are getting old!

You can say that again.  These don't make the news.  But it seems like every time the water is shut off to a house in my neighborhood, the valve is broken.  Then the property owners have to pay thousands of dollars to have their yards ripped up to have it fixed.  There have probably been 10 instances of this on S. Lakeview alone in the last year or two.

[ForumManager]

Pipes are getting old!

[jay]

Are there more water leaks this year?  I can't remember seeing this many in past years.