Consider Coating Above-Grade Steel Water Lines (Source: Opflow)

By Christine Kirby

The City of Houston’s water system serves more than 4.5 million people regionally and produces more than 169 billion gallons of treated water every year. The City has more than 300 above-grade water line crossings, some of which have been in service for more than 75 years. How does an expansive city such as Houston, stretching across 600 square miles, monitor and maintain the condition of these crossings?

In 2012, Houston Public Works (HPW) implemented a program to inspect every above-grade water line crossing in the City. More than 200 crossings were identified as needing repair or rehabilitation. Of those, 21 were considered large diameter, or 24-inches in diameter and larger. In cooperation with HPW and the Surface Water Transmission Program (SWTP), a comprehensive field assessment was performed on these 21 crossings, and criteria was developed to address the deficiencies.