Xivvx t1_jbxrwbo wrote
Reply to comment by Flimsy-Lie-1471 in In Truth or Consequences, N.M., leaking pipes cause millions of gallons of water to go down the drain amid drought by Thetimmybaby
The problem isn't usually replacing the physical line, it's all the steps you need to do before you replace the line. And then fix everything back up after.
Like dig up roadways, deal with other aging infrastructure, etc. Those costs are usually a lot more, depending on job ofc.
Leviathant t1_jby0i76 wrote
Anecdote time! We did a gut-job renovation on what is now our home in Philadelphia.
Contractors jack-hammered the street and the sidewalk to run a new connection from the water main in the middle of the street. You need a permit to block the street for a day or two, a backhoe comes out to break up and move the hard stuff, a bunch of dudes with shovels worked through the dirt, put down new pipe, and put steel plates down on the street to cover the work temporarily. The bolts on the steel plate that are meant to keep it fastened to the street inevitably pop out of the street within days, so all day, all night, vehicles drive over the plates with a CLUNK CLUNK that shakes your entire house - especially dump trucks. Flatbed trucks make a sound like a traffic accident when they go over these plates.
New sidewalk is put down pretty quickly. Weeks(?) later, contractors come out to pour concrete over the new work in the street, and put a temporary asphalt patch on top of that. A few weeks later, the asphalt patch has compressed, and that has to be re-filled - which takes a month or two to actually happen. And then anywhere from six to eight months later, the Streets Department comes out, blocks the street for a day, scrapes out the patch job, and finishes the surface properly.
Oh, and we had to pay $200 for a new water meter, too.
Now, this was done as part of a comprehensive construction project. If I wasn't a crazy person, and just bought a regular home that mostly just worked, I could see the appeal of not giving a toss about what's going on between my home and the middle of the street. And as far as the city goes, Philadelphia doesn't even do street sweeping, there is absolutely no way they'd proactively take on an infrastructure upgrade project like this on their own. If the street consistently develops sinkholes, they'll fix it, but now you're looking at months without vehicular access to the street in question, and that kind of disruption can cause catastrophic damage to small businesses.
That said, Truth or Consquences infrastructure is barely a century old, and billionaires own significant tracts of nearby land, this does seem like a solvable problem.
Flimsy-Lie-1471 t1_jby4eyl wrote
Fun fact. I live in PA. The city we were discussing was Philly with its wooden pipes that lose about 30% of their water.
Leviathant t1_jby7qe8 wrote
Yup! I work in Old City, and have walked past work where they've pulled the wooden mains out for replacing with modern infrastructure. Blew my mind a little bit.
The pressure here on the third floor ain't great either.
AdministrationNo9238 t1_jc1yzoh wrote
man, i bought a house in philly. previous owners had had the sewer line replaced, but didn’t bother to replace the lead pipe supply line while they had it open. WTF?
Best part? i live on a trolley line, so that complicates things.
83-Edition t1_jbzcxf1 wrote
Being downtown during the big lead pipe replacement project was kind of a nightmare.
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