An article in the Washington Post highlights the struggles of the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission (WSSC) in maintaining and upgrading water mains in Montgomery and Prince George’s Counties.

The Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission has 350 miles of concrete mains that have been prone to exploding without warning. The particularly large mains are designed to carry high volumes of pressurized water. Utilities around the world have struggled with this type of pipe since the 1980s, when they began bursting decades before their 100-year life expectancy was up.

The WSSC’s inventory of large concrete pipe is second only to Detroit’s and two to three times that of many other U.S. cities and suburbs, according to a Washington Post survey of 21 large utilities.

While local officials work to protect residents who live in areas prone to water main breaks, they must also balance the costs of upgrades.

The scope of the problem has been a key question among local officials wrestling with how to best protect people who live, work, attend school and drive within what the utility has declared an 80-foot danger zone of the massive mains’ potentially explosive forces.

The pipes span up to eight feet in diameter, big enough to hold a minivan. Because they carry so much pressurized water, they can blow like a bomb, leaving 50-foot craters in roads and hurling rocks and other debris “like shrapnel,” said Gary Gumm, the WSSC’s chief engineer.

The 350 miles of large concrete pipe — technically called prestressed concrete cylinder pipe — form the backbone of the 5,600-mile water distribution system for 1.8 million people in Montgomery’s and Prince George’s counties. The large transmission mains carry water from the treatment plants to the smaller pipes that reach into neighborhoods. After decades of development, some of the mains, buried in what was once the countryside, now sit just beyond back fences and alongside or beneath major roads.

In the densely populated Washington suburbs, they’re too big to move, WSSC officials say, and replacing all of them would cost a prohibitive $2.9 billion. Doing so also wouldn’t be cost-effective because inspections have shown that only 1.5 percent of concrete pipe sections need to be repaired or replaced, WSSC officials said.

Caroline County Commissioners approved their fiscal year budget on June 4, increasing property and income tax rates.  As reported on MyEasternShoreMD.com:

The budget includes a 5-cent property tax increase, approved at the commissioners’ May 28 meeting, including a 3-cent increase to produce constant yield following an $800,000 decrease in tax assessments in the northern part of the county, and an additional 2-cent increase, largely to cover the increase in the county’s portion of teacher pension costs, said Finance Director Margaret Roe in a statement.

The budget also includes an increase in the income tax rate, from 2.63 percent to 2.73 percent, but Roe said that extra income will not be seen until the county’s 2015 fiscal year, and will go toward capital improvements.

Additional information can be found in the County’s FY 14 Budget Message.

…the County Commissioners required every department and allied agency to submit a flat budget request.  Commissioners made across the board cuts to the departments where they had authority to reduce spending…

For the first time since 2007, the Commissioner granted a very modest (one-percent) increase for all County employees, except senior management.

Kent County Commissioner’s approved a fiscal 2014 budget of almost $45 million on June 11, providing a $2,000 across the board raise for employees and retaining property and income tax rates.  Other highlights from the approved budget are listed below.

• Retires over $4 million of debt in the county general and water and sewer funds
• Reduces water and sewer rates by 4%
• Funds the schools at Maintenance of Effort
• Maintains a 10% fund balance

More specifics on the county budget can be found in a PowerPoint  summarizing the county’s budget presentation.

As reported by the Daily Times,

Wicomico County’s $127 million budget for the upcoming fiscal year was approved by the county council this morning.

The budget includes about $10 million more in spending than last year and increases the property tax rate to about $9 for every $1,000 of assessed value.

The county press release summarizes changes made to the budget by Council.

Significant changes to the proposed budget include:

A reduction of the Executive’s proposed allocation of $1 million above Maintenance of Effort for the Board of Education to $629,000

County Executive Pollitt accepted the following recommendations made by the Council:

• An appropriation of $1 million in additional funds to accelerate the Roads Division’s maintenance program

• A 1.7% increase for county employees who were not otherwise receiving an increase. The 1.7% is the allowable inflation adjustment under the revenue cap.

Description:  Everyone wants clean waterways, but fiscal constraints can make it difficult to put the infrastructure in place to get there. Through working with states and localities, the United States Environmental Protection Agency has developed an “integrated approach” for achieving stormwater and wastewater plans. This comprehensive approach will provide localities with the opportunity for identifying cost-effective and protective solutions and implementing the most important projects first. This session will discuss this framework and how to apply it to your jurisdiction.

Speaker:  Connie Bosma, Municipal Branch Chief, Office of Wastewater Management, Environmental Protection Agency

Moderator:  TBD

Date & Time:  Wednesday, August 14, 2013; 12:00 pm to 1:00 pm

MACo’s 2013 Summer Conference will be held from August 14 – 17 at the Roland Powell Convention Center in Ocean City, Maryland.

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More information about MACo’s 2013 Summer Conference:

• Summer Conference Registration Brochure
• Online Registration
• MACo’s Conduit Street Blog coverage of the Summer Conference
• Exhibitor Registration Brochure
• Sponsorship & Advertising Brochure
• Reduced Hotel Rates List