Good news for Montgomery County real estate owners in the city of Rockville MD. You may be one of the lucky owners of Montgomery County MD real estate that may be getting new water pipes. If you are interested in searching for Rockville Maryland, real estate or any Washington Dc metro area real estate please contact one of the members of themarylandrealestateexpert.com.
Currently, Rockville city officials are proposing a plan which would replace 33 miles of water pipes over 15 years, which works out to 2.2 miles per year. A raise in the water rates of the city residents is how this $67 million project will be funded. This rate increase that residents will have to incur will not be small. These overhauls of the city water pipelines are needed without delay due to the fact that Rockville has had a record number of water main breaks. Last year alone the city had to pay roughly $250,000 to cover the cost of the record high 65 water main breaks that occurred. Rockville residents are not the only people who will be seeing an increase in there water bill. Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission manages the majority of water distribution systems in Montgomery and Prince George’s County. They recently made a statement that proposed a 9.5% raise in the water rates along with an additional twenty-dollar fee to cover repairs.
The City officials are also worried about the safety factor that these old pipes can cause. The weak water pressure caused from the corrosion of these old pipes can obstruct the water pressure that firefighters need for putting out fires. The Firefighters need to have a free flowing water source to be able to be effective in completing their job. Currently in the city of Rockville, there are roughly 1,369 hydrants that have insufficient water flow for fighting the fires. This can be due to the fact that 70 % of the city’s pipes are cast iron and were installed over three decades ago.
According to the city officials roughly every ten years the city runs a test on its water system. A test last year showed that the water pressure varied in different locations, the most concentrated area of low water pressure was located in the eastern quadrant of those city. The pipes, which were installed after the mid 1970s, are composed of ductile iron and lined with cement that has allowed these pipes to last longer. Besides just replacing the pipes the city also intends to replace every water meter as well. These new meters will allow city officials to capture the data electronically instead of visually inspecting each meter. The city officials say that these new meters will also be far more accurate and much easier to read.
