By MARCUS JENSEN
The Progress
Repairs had to be undertaken quickly by Moapa Valley Water District crews on Thursday, Mar. 31 when the 24-inch diameter water pipeline that supplies most of the potable water supply to the lower Moapa Valley experienced a break.
A significant water leak was discovered issuing from the pipeline about halfway between Glendale and Logandale. Workers had to shut down this section of pipeline, excavate a hole in the ground about eight feet deep around the leaking pipe, cut out the leaking section of pipe, and replace that section with new pipe.
There were no water outages to customers during the repair period, which started around noon and continued through the early evening. This lack of outages was due to the capacity of the system’s water storage tanks being sufficient to meet water needs during the repair period.
The MVWD workers involved in the repair work included Mica Leatham, Jestyn Postma, Jonathan Brown, and Garrett Rose.
Supervisor Kylie Bradshaw and General Manager Joe Davis also spent time at the work site to examine the faulty pipe and assure that repairs were proceeding expeditiously.
After inspecting the corroded breach in the ductile iron pipe, Davis remarked that the limited extent of the area of corrosion appeared to be typical of a pattern that the district has been seeing on other failed sections of the primary water supply pipeline bringing water from wells in Warm Springs to the entire Moapa Valley community.
Davis expressed concern that this pipe material, made from ductile iron, might be faulty in its manufacturing.
The pipeline was installed approximately 25 years ago. Davis said that water pipelines of this kind in community water systems are usually expected to provide good service for 50 years or more. These early failures are a source of concern for the Water District.
