Richmond Water Main Replacement

Deteriorating water main and water quality issues prompted the repair of an 80-year-old main in an established section of the Village of Richmond. During the process of internal home inspections, two homes were identified with original lead services. The water main replacement would require interior and exterior site investigation for lead service replacement as well as coordination to relocate other services that had originally been constructed in a common trench with sanitary services. This investigation was conducted jointly by the Village’s Public Work’s superintendent and the HR Green’s Design Engineer.

The Village considered multiple options for funding “private side” (b-box to house) lead service replacement:

• 100% Village-funded
• Split the cost between the Village and impacted property owners
• Require impacted property owners to reimburse the Village for replacements costs when the project was complete
• Require impacted property owners to reimburse the Village overtime via their water bills
• Require impacted property owners to pay the contractor directly

The Village selected the option of requiring the homeowners to pay replacement costs directly to the contractor, who agreed to perform the work at a discounted rate in conjunction with the replacement project. The water main replacement required multiple sections of service and main as well as partial storm sewer replacement to meet IEPA separation requirements. This was due to conflicts with existing sanitary and storm sewers. In addition to the water main construction, an automatic water main flushing device was installed at the dead-end to maintain water quality.

To maintain service to affected homes, 346 linear feet of 6” water main were replaced while keeping the old main active during construction, greatly minimizing the impact on residents.