 National Rural Water Association 2915 S. 13th Street Duncan, OK 73533 580-252-0629 FAX 580-255-4476 Contact: Chris Wilson, nrwacw@nrwa.org
August 17, 2009 N.Y. Rural Water assists Forestville after floods
Claverack, N.Y .– Heavy rains filled the creeks around Forestville,
N.Y. last week, flooding communities and knocking out water service.
Technical experts from the New York Rural Water Association spent
several days in the area, working to restore drinking water to the
small community.
Forestville lost water when high water and debris jammed the drainage around the Cedar Street bridge. “The floods washed trees, telephone poles and large rocks downstream,” said Jamie Herman, a training specialist with the New York Rural Water Association. “The flooding and debris broke a four-inch water main that passed under the creek bed, and erosion exposed another sizeable section of the main.” A village press release reported that floods had washed out several roads and heavily damaged homes near the creek. Village officials placed strict restrictions on water use and issued a boil order until the system could be repaired. Leaks left the community’s water storage tanks half empty, and significant disinfection and testing would be required before the water was safe to drink. “It's been devastating and tiring," said Forestville Mayor Richard Yeager. "We've been working and trying to help people." Herman and NYRWA Circuit Rider Dan Tousley began by trying to located and isolate the leaks to restore water pressure. “The correlation efforts were difficult, due to the loss in water pressure,” Tousley explained. “It took several tempts, but we finally located the water main break under the creek, and a badly-damaged service line near the bridge.” The rural water technicians worked with city crews to excavate the main near the bridge. After closing the service tap, the crews put valves into the main on both sides of the creek. Closing the valves restored water pressure to the village, and allowed utility staff to begin disinfecting the system. Those repairs immediately improved the water service to the community, and still left options for future repairs and expansion. “We decided to use valves rather than mechanical joint caps to terminate the main to facilitate a future replacement of the creek crossing piping without service interruption,” Herman explained. The team continued working on the service line. “We excavated and repaired the service line, bringing the system back to full capacity,” Tousley said. The repairs were completed after two days of work, but the community would still be under a boil water order until the drinking water was tested for safety. ### |
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