Editor’s note: This press release was provided by the Village of Pelham. The Pelham Examiner publishes press releases in the form received as a service to the community.

Aging Sanitary Sewer System

Most of the village’s sanitary sewer mains were constructed in the early 1900s utilizing clay tile pipe. Over time, the joint materials have failed, allowing root intrusion. Clay pipe is also susceptible to cracking and construction damage. The conventional method of digging and replacing the pipe (“open-cut replacement”) is costly and disruptive to property owners.

Cured-in-Place Pipe Lining

The village’s Capital Budget included funding for a sanitary sewer main lining program to extend the life of our sanitary sewers by 50 years or more. This technology, called cured-in-place pipe (CIPP) renewal, installs a new liner pipe inside the old clay tile sewer main without digging up village streets, which results in minimal disruption to residents during construction.

The liner pipe is inserted into the main through existing manholes and cured in place with a heat or steam process. Any given segment is usually completed in one working day. Service line connections are reopened using a robotic cutter and remote cameras. During the process, existing flows are bypassed using pumps.

This technology has been proven over the past 20 years and has become more cost-effective than open-cut replacement.

The lining prevents infiltration of groundwater into the system through cracks in the aged pipe, so this work is credited toward our inflow/infiltration program.

Notifications

Our contractor Green Mountain Pipeline Services will notify affected residents at least 24 hours before their work. Generally, during the lining process, it is acceptable to use the toilet and wash your hands, but we ask you not to run a load of laundry or do dishes or showers, which may cause your service to back up your home. Depending on the pipe size, this impact can be anywhere from a few hours to much of the day. All services will be restored by the end of the day to prevent impacts overnight.

During the curing process, you may smell an odor from the resin used for the lining pipe. If you smell it, your sanitary traps could be dry. Please run water in seldom-used sinks and pour water into basement floor drains. This will refill the trap and help prevent smells from entering your home from the sanitary main.