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Village of Lewiston DPW Superintendent Terry Brolinski with a new water meter head. (File photo)
Village of Lewiston DPW Superintendent Terry Brolinski with a new water meter head. (File photo)

DPW looks to complete water meter replacement in Lewiston; Center Street work concluding

by jmaloni
Fri, Jun 14th 2019 02:50 pm

The Village of Lewiston Department of Public Works has been replacing water meter heads since the beginning of this year. With summer projects about to begin, the DPW is looking to finish the water meter head replacement project.

Residents are asked to call the clerk’s office at 716-754-8271 to make an appointment. There is no fee for this service, which should only take about 10 minutes.

“The new meter heads are going to be able to tell us more information about leaks in the household,” DPW Superintendent Terry Brolinski said when the replacement effort began in January. The new tech will allow his department to “keep better track with everything that we have going with the water system.”

The DPW will use a cellular network for drive-by readings, instead of workers getting out of a vehicle and stopping at each residence. A full gamut of meter information is available to the DPW via a new software program.

Moreover, “This is a 20-year battery,” Brolinski said. The water meter heads set to be replaced were expected to have a 10-year battery, but the DPW got five additional years from the product. “We’re hoping for 25 out of these. There’s no maintenance.”

Intersection Work Wrapping

On Thursday, Brolinski said the repair work residents have noticed on Center Street intersections is about to conclude.

He explained National Fuel has been resleeving lines on the roadway. Brolinski said the tubing is old and was deteriorating.

While the work has been unsightly – especially as festival season gets underway – Brolinski noted, “Digging up a corner is better than digging up the whole block.”

“Basically, you’re putting a plastic pipe inside of a steel pipe,” he explained. “That steel pipe, now, is useless – other than an outside protective cover for the plastic. The plastic is what you see in the ground, normally, in a residential area now. Everything is low-pressure.

“We can do it with water lines; we can do it with sewers. You can sleeve the pipes. It saves you money in excavating and just tearing up stuff. It’s cost-effective.”

National Fuel subcontracted the project to Babcock Utilities. Brolinski said recent rains have delayed the project’s completion.

Managing Editor Joshua Maloni contributed to this report.

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