This paper is a case study on a situation facing Charlotte-Mecklenburg Utilities where a
water main needed repairs, but due to its location, a convenient time for a service
interruption for those customers could not be determined. Historically, when a water
main needs to be shutdown for repairs, a utility either just gives advance notice of the
repair and service interruption or works with customers to pick a good time for the
interruption. This had been the practice of this utility until June, 2002.
In this situation, a repair needed to be made at a main line tap on a 24 inch water line that
required 6 restaurants, 5 hotels, an ice skating rink, and several commercial
establishments be left without water for at least 24 hours. Conversations with those
customers were not very fruitful in determining a convenient time for the interruption
within the timeframe that the repair needed to be made. Management asked that the
Engineering department get involved and look for creative ways to eliminate or minimize
the customers that would loose water service. Discussions among the engineering staff
led to a solution that involved an emergency connection of two existing water lines and
the installation of aboveground water service lines to all customers that provided them
with both the domestic supply and necessary fire protection. The aboveground system
was one that was being used by the utilities' water main rehabilitation contractor in
neighborhoods while existing water mains were being cleaned and lined. In this case
study no customers lost water supply during the repair, which took more than 48 hours to
complete. Includes figure.
| Edition : | Vol. - No. |
| File Size : | 1
file
, 2.2 MB |
| Note : | This product is unavailable in Ukraine, Russia, Belarus |
| Number of Pages : | 5 |
| Published : | 10/01/2003 |
