Victoria Officials Outline Reasons Behind Recent Water Problems

VICTORIA – Victoria residents are well aware of the recent water issues that have plagued the town during recent weeks. The issues range from no pressure and discolored water to no water at all. Victoria employees have worked day and night trying to fix and correct these line breaks since the elevated water storage tank in the town was taken off line in order to have repairs done to the structure.

Victoria Town Manger Rodney Newton spoke during the town council meeting last Thursday and offered a presentation to show exactly what is causing the problems, what the town is facing to fix the issues and how much longer some of these problems will occur.

Mr. Newton said that the elevated water tank had not seen maintenance done to it on a regular basis and that town officials decided that this needed to start taking place. The tank had issues such as leaks, rust spots and other problems that needed to be fixed before they became an even larger issues.

The town water system operates with gravity from the elevated tank and pumps at locations around Victoria that help maintain the water flow and also pressurize the lines. When the elevated tank was taken off line, this meant that the water pressure was strictly driven by the pumps. The elevated tank also provided an outlet for built up water pressure.

Mr. Newton explained that each time that the pumps have to be turned on it creates essentially a wave of water that is called “water hammer.” When the elevated tank was there to provide an outlet, it kept the water hammer from creating problems, but now that water hammer and the pressure in the pipes is causing some of the old pipes around the town to break and begin leaking.

At that point, town employees must first of all locate the place that is leaking and then dig it up and repair the area. While there are times when water is seen coming up from the areas where the leak occurs, Mr. Newton said that there are other occasions where the water will drain into another area or sewer line and it becomes difficult to find.

Once the lines are dug up, a clamp is usually placed on the leak in order to stop it and restore water and pressure to homes. Since the work on the elevated town has begun, Mr. Newton said that there are well over 20 spots that have leaked and caused problems that have been fixed or are being worked on.

In addition to that, as the repairs are taking place town officials have discovered that many of the pipes and places that are leaking already have numerous patches and clamps on them from where they have broken in the past.

Mr. Newton told town officials that the main concern at the moment is working on these issues and keeping things going while the tower work is completed, but that in the near future, a plan to help update and replace the old pipes in the town would need to take place.

He noted that several areas that are part of the water infrastructure for the town are in good shape including the recently updated Nottoway Falls location, Modest Creek and the Water Filtration Plant. However, some areas have been without upgrades for decades and that is manifesting itself with these recent water problems.

The elevated water tank is expected to be completed by the end of October, but until that time, some of the water issues that have taken place could continue. While noted that these many breaks around the town have caused some issues for residents, Victoria Mayor Carol Watson stated, “I am very proud of the hard work done by our employees on the water lines.” She also noted that while these issues were unexpected, the employees have been working extremely hard to get things fixed as quickly as they possibly could. She also thank Mr. Newton for the work he had done.