HUDSON — Father Time is having his way with the city’s water mains and the aging lines are contributing to service disruptions and official frustration.
The city wants to upgrade the water system on Robinson Street and North Third Street by replacing the existing water lines. The total cost of the project is expected to be $1,026,260.
City officials are prepared to contribute matching funds through a bond.
Furthermore, Hudson has the opportunity to apply for grant funds from the New York State Water Infrastructure Improvement Act, which may cover up to $3 million or 60% of total project costs.
The city is expected to submit the application for the grant by Aug. 14, the deadline for the WIIA application.
According to the City of Hudson Department of Public Works, the water mains were last replaced in the early 1900s, making the existing infrastructure more than a century old.
Department of Public Works Superintendent Rob Perry said the project will include replacement of the aging lines with more modern hardware.
“Right now we want to replace the old four-inch water mains on North 3rd street and replace them with modern eight-inch ductile iron pipe,” Perry said. “It’s still on the outside, it’s very robust. We got some feedback when we submitted a grant last year. We scored reasonably well. A lot of times when we have an outstanding grant of the same nature, they like to see us finish one before they approve another one. Last year we were doing a WIIA grant project on Washington Street, which is complete and closed out now. This is part of an ongoing pattern of improving and replacing our outdated infrastructure.”
Perry touched on the importance of updating the city’s ancient water infrastructure.
“We are an old city with old architecture and old infrastructure” Perry said. “Many of the water mains are over 100 years old, made of cast iron,” Perry said. “In this project we would replace the existing four-inch water main that most certainly has mineral build-up, or tuberculation, which further restricts flow. Also the cast iron degrades over time, making it more prone to breaks.”
The water main break that occurred earlier this month has no correlation between this project and the event of a water main break on South 4th Street and Cherry Alley on Sunday, July 9, Perry said.
“Replacing the water mains on Robinson Street is imperative,” Perry said. “There are fears that the water main will meet the same fate as the water main on South 4th and Cherry Alley.”
“It’s an old main, so it will break eventually, and the Water Department will respond and repair it just like they do the other 20+ times per year,” Perry said.
Gov. Kathy Hochul is expected to announce the grant winners in December. If the city application isn’t approved, officials plan to resubmit to different programs in an effort to upgrade the water lines.
The Water Infrastructure Improvement program provides competitive grants to help municipalities fund critical wastewater and drinking water infrastructure projects.