Water Main Replacement Temporary Water Hookups?

[mjwalsh]

I wonder if some of my fellow "water users" ... those of us with more than a just self serve facility have faced the proposition of new water main using their latest techniques. They are currently just starting the late in the season project. I knew from my residence's similar experience that they do a temporary few weeks of back flowing through a garden hose faucet. OK residential wise or with a business with vastly smaller water needs!

Unbelievable. The foreman of the project when I approached him ... the guy with the clipboard & entourage ... told me he already found the two commercial garden hose valves ... supposedly no problem. BTW he told me he had his degree in engineering. To his credit he did finally come around to the reality that they would have to find another way so more water & less loss of pressure would occur. He came around only after I "sort of kind of" blistered his ears a bit.

BTW ... one of the two garden hose spigots would be back flowing into our Fleck Water Softener that serves both our laundromat & our 6 self serve car wash bays. Not sure if that reverse flow into the twin softener resin-gravel tanks would also be a factor.

Any thoughts or similar experiences???

 

[MEP001]

They can't backflow into a garden hose spigot if you have the proper anti-siphon protection on it.

 

[mjwalsh]

They can't backflow into a garden hose spigot if you have the proper anti-siphon protection on it.

I am not sure if they had a way around that??? I know that the more residential spigots as they did at home all the other residences on the block there was no siphon protection ... that was 2 years ago ... same contractor ... same modern water main replacement process. The several week delay of going into the main has more to do with having a thorough enough testing. Our commercial "roller skate type of key" protected is a Woodford Brand.

Woodford Model 65, B65, Modular & Round Box Hydrants

Model 65 B65 RB65 are automatic draining freezeless wall hydrant hose connection Backflow Protection drain handle shut off intended for irrigation

www.woodfordmfg.com

2 years ago .. for residential they had Roto Rooter with their cameras before & after for the city to have proof of no damage to the sewer hookups when they had lesser dig ups to tie into the in proximity individual water shut offs. Not sure if that has anything to do with potential damage to commercial sewers & this specific water main replacement though. In our city we are responsible for up to where it hooks up to the water main even though it goes beyond the boulevard ... unless of course if it can be proven the city damaged it themselves.

The fire hydrants must be separate from the water main somehow because all of the temporary water leads back to fire hydrants with a 2" line???

We do have a huge anti siphon valve when the HARD WATER first comes in from the water main.

 

[mjwalsh]

Specific to the two Woodford Hydrants that I have ... I just called Woodford & they said that the following would bypass the anti-siphon: https://buyeagle.biz/products/55434 Special threaded part.

That would allow reverse flow. The city & the contractors can cause a bit of extra stress not informing that the anti siphon has a work around that they very possibly had in mind.

The ludicrous idea of two garden hose to serve washing machines shows that the three engineers involved were not familiar & did not look into the water requirements not to mention the cavitation that would have occurred with the smaller tanks in the car wash.

Herm Deal's son Jeff (a mechanical engineer) answered my post on the CLA forum & basically said ... to paraphrase a bit ... informed me that reverse flow through any water softener would be a disaster. So if we had allowed the reverse flow ... we would have had to make sure that we were not caught without the softener system 100% bypassed assuming all our ball valves were working 100%. Live & learn??? I have met Jeff several times in person at various shows etc.

Because of my persistence ... it looks like the city is supposedly doing me a huge special favor by apparently finding a way so I have at least 2 inch equivalent (the temporary) from a fire hydrant. Not totally out of the woods yet on possible less pressure but hopefully it will turn out OK ... ND winter is coming all too quick ... another hazard (freeze) for those temporary above ground small lines for the neighboring businesses with less water volume needs!