In a way, Wayne County was lucky not to have been populated with many urban settings. Most rural residents were on well water well into the 20th Century and water lines were pretty much restricted to more populous villages.
As the populations grew, more water lines and districts began expanding to meet the demands of increased housing needs.
The central villages in many towns had already established municipal water sources, some that are now a hundred years old, or older. Those older, corroding lines are now springing leaks and water main breaks are a common complaint, especially in the regions cold winters.
With the dissolution of the Village of Lyons, the Wayne County Water and Sewer Authority will be taking over maintenance and operation of the aging pipes in the village.
According to Marty Aman, director of the authority, the pipes in the village are in worse condition than those in the non-urban towns across the county.
“It’s disproportional, in terms of the number of repairs, compared to what we have on our newer systems,” Aman said. “We knew that going in.” Aman said part of the increase in water rates is in planning for the future replacement costs that can equate to $120 to $150 per foot. “We will keep the old lines going as long as we can. “He added that replacing key valves is only a “band-aid” until lines need to be totally replaced, without a wide disruption of service to customers. He said that the Town of Lyons is working with an engineering firm to do an analysis on the system and make recommendations on what sections should be a priority.
Since the pipes in the village will require more improvements than those in other towns, Aman said that they have a different rate structure than other service areas.
“Major replacements, down the road, those will be the responsibility of the town,” Aman said. “There’s a separate district in the village, so major repairs will be funded by the town and charged back to the residents in the village that are benefiting from the improvements.”
“We’ve been very careful to separate that out from our other contracts,” Aman continued.
The Wayne County Water and Sewer Authority currently operates and maintains water systems within the towns of Marion, Arcadia, Macedon, Walworth, Palmyra, Lyons, Butler, Huron, Sodus and Wolcott.
According to Aman, he won’t really have an idea for a timetable on full-scale replacements until next year. He said, barring any major disruptions in service, that it could be anywhere from two to five years before major replacements are needed.
Aman noted that the pipes that they operate in other towns are in much better shape than those in the villages across the county.
“The good news is that the bulk of our system, most of what we operate, is relatively new compared to the aging pipes in the cities and villages,” Aman said.
“For the most part, the pipes we’re dealing with were installed from 1960 and on, so we don’t have a large portion of our pipes that are of concern.”
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