Iowa American Water close to finishing upgrade projects

Iowa American Water has reported that work is nearing completion on two water main upgrade projects in the city of Clinton.

The upgrade work will increase water flow for firefighting and improve service reliability.

The company is investing almost $600,000 to replace and upgrade around 1,700ft of aging water mains. Around 2,100ft of 6in water main is being upgraded to 8in to replace aging pipeline and increase transmission capacity of the north end of the distribution system.

The two projects will be in service by the end of September, although restoration work and the transfer of service lines to the new water main will continue through October.

Clinton operations superintendent Gerry Freudenberg said: "These projects will improve reliability for our customers by replacing and upgrading aging pipeline that has been the cause of frequent breaks in the past."

Earlier in 2013, the company completed two additional water main replacement projects with a total cost of almost $1.5m.

The projects included the upgrade of a 1.5 mile water main in conjunction with the City of Clinton and the Iowa Department of Transportation. In addition, the company replaced around 3,650ft of aged water main.

"Iowa American Water makes investments such as this regularly to ensure high quality, reliable service while delivering water to customers’ homes for about a penny per gallon," Freudenberg added.

Iowa American Water maintains approximately 155 miles of water main in the Clinton District and over 680 miles in the Iowa Quad Cities.