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Woodard & Curran, the village’s engineering consultant, designated nine high-priority water rehabilitation projects outlined in red.
Woodard & Curran, the village’s engineering consultant, designated nine high-priority water rehabilitation projects outlined in red.
A little more than eight months since being awarded a contract to complete a water system master plan, Rye Brook-based engineering and geological services firm Woodard & Curran on May 25 presented the board of trustees a draft report, which identified 76 pipe rehabilitation projects for a total cost of $103.3 million.
With many pipes installed more than 100 years ago, the village’s 98-mile water piping infrastructure system has been marred by pipe breaks and valve failures in the last decade. Between 2008 and 2020, the village’s water department recorded 200 main breaks and valve failures, a number Woodard & Curran’s senior project manager Steve Robbins said was “relatively high” when compared nationally, but not surprising for a system this old.
To tackle the village’s aging water infrastructure system, the projects would be ranked by priority based on condition and length. The work includes adding cement lining to approximately 114,400 linear feet of cast iron main pipes, epoxy lining to approximately 287,600 linear feet of universal joint pipe, as well as replacing approximately 1,200 linear feet of 4-inch pipe with 8-inch pipe and replacing approximately 15,000 linear feet of severely corroded pipe with new pipe of the same diameter.
The consultant, awarded $79,400 last September to complete the plan, identified nine projects that were considered high priority, including a $2.2 million relining project on Ardsley Road, a $2 million project on Walworth Avenue and Gilmore Court, a $2.9 million relining project on Fenimore and Fox Meadow roads, a $3 million relining project on Garden Road and the Boniface Water Tank, a $1.5 million relining project on Popham Road, a $1.4 million relining project on Reimer Road, a pipe replacement project on Crossway and two relining projects on Post Road at $1.5 million and $1.2 million.
Woodard & Curran created an updated water distribution map by reviewing more than 500 paper maps, field sketches and notes. The consultant plans to present a water rate study to help guide the village and provide estimations on utility budget projections for the next 10 years.
“Rates alone are probably not going to get you through a capital program of this size and continued investment from the state and federal government in drinking water is important to address this issue,” said Robbins. “It wasn’t created overnight and it’s not going to be solved overnight.”
The village has a mix of pipe types, from cast iron to ductile iron and even universal joint pipes, which Robbins said was unique to Scarsdale.
According to the report, universal joint pipes pose frequent maintenance issues and cannot be rehabilitated with cement lining. Instead, universal joint pipes can only be rehabilitated with an epoxy lining or replacement.
Trustee Lena Crandall shared a concern about whether epoxy lining was safe to have in a pipe that carries potable water for consumption in the community.
Robbins said that epoxy linings were approved for use with potable water and the lining material is not the type of epoxy used to repair things around the house.
“Their use here is identified for those pipe segments where the pipe itself is in good condition, but the joints are not,” he said. “It’s not the only method of rehabilitation that can be used there, but it’s a common rehabilitation method in that particular case.”
Because a consumer rate increase would not cover the more than $100 million in expected repairs to the water distribution system, Woodard & Curran highlighted various grants that could help fund the endeavor.
“For the state programs, there are several that do provide assistance for drinking water, but to be able to obtain certain types of beneficial financing, it’s a threshold limited program,” Woodard & Curran’s senior planner Laura Tessier said, explaining that it may be difficult for Scarsdale to obtain grants based on the area’s high median household income and low poverty rate.
Tessier said the best way for the village to approach funding initiatives for the pipe rehabilitation project would be through lead and lead surface lines in areas where a project would be necessary for critical infrastructure or would affect vulnerable populations such as senior housing or schools.
Another avenue for funding could be the American Rescue Plan. The village was allocated $1.96 million from the federal government plan, and those funds could be used for water and sewer infrastructure projects.
Village Manager Steve Pappalardo said the village was “always swimming upstream” when it came to obtaining grants, especially when other more needy communities are also applying.
“The money’s out there right now. More so than I’ve seen in a long time,” said Pappalardo. “We have to be aggressive, and we have to go after it and use our representatives to assist us.”
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