Aging Water Wells
3 of our wells— Number 1 at the Vera office, Number 3 at 16th and Evergreen, and Number 5 right across from Evergreen Middle School — are the original hand-dug wells completed between 1908 and 1914.
These wells have been well maintained over the last century, but they still contain the original building materials. We will need to make significant overhauls of these wells.
These are only a couple of the issues we must plan for when operating a system that had been serving our customers for almost 112 years. It is difficult to predict when some of these facilities will reach the end of their productive lives. The only way to ensure we are prepared to act when their replacement is necessary is to keep our utility in a fiscally sound position and to consider creating a replacement fund to address these issues in the future.
Aging Underground Pipe
In 1959, we replaced 95 miles – about 98% of the underground pipe – in just one construction season. 60 years ago, that pipe had an estimated useful lifespan of 30 to 50 years. We have only replaced 2,000 feet of that pipe since 1959. The rest of that pipe is still in really good shape. The excellent drainage and low corrosive nature of the valley soils have been kind to the pipe.
With that said, at some point, this pipe will need to be re-lined or replaced. In 1959, the pipe was in the unpaved shoulder of the road; and there were no compaction, safety, and traffic control standards. What took a season to complete in 1959 will take a decade to complete now.