NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The Hutchinson City Council approved using a state loan program to help replace water lines in the city at their meeting on Tuesday. The city will take out a loan of $1,205,000 through the state's Kansas Public Water Supply Loan Fund, but they are eligible for $361,500 in principal forgiveness from KDHE once the work is done.
"The City used the American Water Works Association's buried no longer pipe replacement modeling tool to determine the recommended amount of water lines we need to replace each year," said Jacob Coy with Public Works. "The model recommends we replace 3.3 miles in 2023, however, due to revenue projections, we can only afford to do 1.3 miles. This will increase each year, as our budget allows, with the rate increases."
The model helped them decide what they were going to work on.
"This model helped us focus in on the pipe age, pipe material and pipe size that was most likely to fail and it gave us a recommendation of where we should best start," Coy said. "The majority of our breaks happen in the distribution system that was installed during 1950 and 1960. The material of the water line, the cast iron pipe is the biggest culprit. About 62% of our water lines are cast iron pipe. That also represents about 94% of the water line breaks."
About 80% of the water line breaks are on six inch water lines.
"We narrowed in on an area between K-61 in town and 1st and 9th to do some targeted water line replacements," Coy said. "These water lines were installed between 1948 and 1968, are cast iron pipe and are six inch in diameter and they also have a history of water line breaks."
The loan program approval by the council was unanimous.
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