City water main line leaks being repaired

Two minor leaks in the City of Worland’s water pipeline are being addressed this winter.

City of Worland Director of Public Works and Parks Nick Kruger detailed plans to repair the section of pipeline that went into service in 1983.

Kruger said that both leaks are located on a water transmission line that connects water wells to the city near Hyattville. They were both discovered during the summer, one by a rancher and one by an oil field worker, who noticed green patches of vegetation in areas that would otherwise be dry. “Due to where they’re located, if there’s a patch of green where there usually isn’t, people start to raise questions,” said Kruger.

In investigating the leaks, the City of Worland determined the causes to be two fittings that have failed: one due to age and the other due to settling. Kruger said, “There are metal fittings along the pipeline, and as they age they tend to corrode, and one of those has failed. The other one, the style of pipe has a fiberglass fitting, and it has shifted underground and the gasket has given out.”

He added that the source of the second leak is also encased in concrete.

The reasons that the City of Worland has known about the leaks since summer but has waited until now to deal with them, are that they are minor in nature and repairs would require temporarily shutting down the pipeline. The City would not be able to meet Worland’s water demand in the summer with this pipeline shut down. Kruger said, “We don’t want to try making these repairs in the summer because that’s when the pipeline is in peak use. Big Horn Regional does have a backup supply, but it can’t cover Worland 100% in the summer.”

As to the repairs themselves, Kruger said that the first leak should be straightforward to fix. At the time of the interview last week, the leak had already been dug up and exposed, and Kruger said that it should take just a day to replace the metal fitting that failed. He said that this leak should be repaired sometime this week.

During Tuesday’s council meeting, Kruger reported the repair was complete and water restored. He said there were some lessons learned from it and there are some additional repairs that will need to be made at a later date.

The second leak will be more of a process, because rather than just replacing the failed gasket and reseating the fiberglass fitting, the City wishes to undergo a redesign of the segment of pipeline where the leak occurred. Kruger said that the process of getting a new design approved by the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality is underway by city engineer Eagle Engineering & Surveying.

Once a design is approved and parts are obtained, those handling repairs will still have to contend with a section of pipe encased in concrete, which gives Kruger reason to believe that they will hire a subcontractor to assist on this project. He said that repairs to the second leak should also take place this winter, but will probably take several days to finish.