Date: Fri 04-Jun-1999

Publication: Bee

Author: ANDYG

Quick Words:

Hawleyville-United-water-line

Full Text:

Pipeline Extension Expected To Set Stage For Hawleyville Development

(with photo & graphic)

BY ANDREW GOROSKO

In a move heralding the anticipated higher-density development of Hawleyville,

United Water plans to begin construction this summer on a 10,000-foot-long

water main to extend its public water supply service area from central Newtown

to Hawleyville.

Design plans for the project have been submitted to the Conservation

Commission for review. United Water is seeking commission approval to lay the

water pipeline beneath seven brooks, said Conservation Official C. Stephen

Driver. Mr Driver said he doesn't foresee problems with the project gaining

commission approval.

The water system expansion would extend the edge of the water service area

from the intersection of Middleton Road and Blackman Road westward generally

along Mt Pleasant Road to 166 Mt Pleasant Road, the 60-acre site of the

Homesteads at Newtown, a planned 298-unit housing complex for the elderly.

The extension of the public water line into Hawleyville, plus the planned

extension of sanitary sewers from Bethel into Hawleyville will set the stage

for higher density development of that largely undeveloped section of town.

United Water is extending the water system at the request of the Homesteads,

which will pay for the expanded water system, said Kevin Moran, United Water

manager.

"It opens the (development) possibilities for Hawleyville," Mr Moran said.

As a condition of approving the Homesteads last September, the Planning and

Zoning Commission (P&Z) required that the complex be served by a public water

supply and public sanitary sewers. Milone and MacBroom, Inc, the engineering

firm for the Homesteads, designed the water system extension.

In April, Avalon Bay Communities, a major apartment developer, submitted plans

to the town for Avalon at Newtown, a 304-unit multi-story apartment complex

proposed for a 40-acre parcel directly west of the Homesteads site. If Avalon

gains approval for its project, that complex would be served by yet another

extension of the United Water system.

The two complexes -- one approved and one proposed -- represent the two

largest private residential development projects ever planned locally. Such

complexes would not be possible without access to sewer lines and water lines,

Mr Driver said.

Mr Moran said United Water has been discussing a water line extension with Dr

Morton Silverstein of the Homesteads for at least two years. Mr Moran said he

only recently learned of the adjacent Avalon proposal.

Hydraulics

Due to the hydraulics involved in the water system extension, United Water

will install equipment to reduce water pressure in the line extending to

Hawleyville, Mr Moran said. Water is stored and released from a holding tank

at the end of Reservoir Road, atop Mt Pleasant. No water pumping stations will

be needed for the Hawleyville extension, Mr Moran said.

"We still continue to have quite a good reserve capacity," he said. United

Water has the ability to draw 1.5 million gallons of water per day from its

Pootatuck Aquifer wellhead across South Main Street from Sand Hill Plaza. It

currently distributes about 400,000 gallons per day to its approximately 1,000

customers. Mr Moran estimated that new demand for water by the Homesteads and

potentially by Avalon would be a total of less than 100,000 gallons per day.

In the past, United Water tested the groundwater reserves in Hawleyville, but

found there was insufficient water available for a public water supply, Mr

Moran said.

United Water's target price for the water line extension is $800,000, Mr Moran

said. The company was awaiting competitive bids on the project.

United Water plans to install a 12-inch-diameter plastic water pipe in the

shoulders of state and town roads in the water system extension. Shoulder

installation is done to minimize costs, limit traffic disruptions and speed

work. The company investigated the alternative of installing the pipeline

generally beneath the roadway, but that wasn't chosen because the state would

have required the entire pavement of Mt Pleasant Road to be replaced,

according to United water's application to the Conservation Commission. Such a

construction project would be very costly, disruptive to traffic flow and

would prolong construction work, according to United Water.

United Water avoids installing such water main extensions beneath pavement

wherever possible, Mr Moran said, noting that a majority of the pipeline to be

installed will not be beneath pavement.

The proposed pipeline would extend westward following the south side of

Blackman Road, the south side of Mt Pleasant Road, the north side of Tory

Lane, and again the south side of Mt Pleasant Road to the Homesteads site.

United Water chose the physically simplest route for a water main extension,

Mr Moran said.

In such a project, typically between 150 to 200 feet of water main is

installed daily, depending on ground conditions, he said.

According to Mr Moran, in the future, water service could be extended to

properties lying along that route by "wet tapping" the water main. Typically

the owners of good water wells don't quickly connect to new water mains, he

said.

About 1,000 feet of the 10,000-foot pipeline would be installed in areas

regulated by the Conservation Commission.