Snohomish boil water advisory surpasses 2 weeks, exposes aging infrastructure
The City of Snohomish Public Works Director shows a reporter the location of an aging water line that has suffered three water main breaks over the past three weeks.
SNOHOMISH, Wash. - It has been more than two weeks since many Snohomish County families could use their water without first boiling it.
The issues began in late January with a small water main break.
According to the City of Snohomish Public Works Director, the city crews were able to fix that rupture within a day. But then, an even larger break occurred.
The second break triggered a boil water advisory on Jan. 31 that remains in effect today.
"At first we’re like, ‘This is annoying, but we can do it,’" said Claire Jones, one of the 75 homeowners under the boil water advisory. "Then it kept on going, and going. We were saying, like, ‘What’s going on?’"
Jones said she can handle the boil water advisory. She and her family have gotten used to it.
However, the boil water advisory is exposing a strange twist in the water transmission line that she’s on.
The 14.7-mile line once fed the City of Snohomish when it had a water treatment plant up near Granite Falls at the Pilchuck Dam. The 75 customers affected by the current water main break live in the county, but were connected to that city line.
That treatment plant closed down years ago, and the dam was demolished to free up salmon passage.
The water line is still in operation after they hooked up to a Snohomish County Public Utility District (PUD) line, however, the rest of the City of Snohomish is getting water routed through Everett ever since the treatment plant was decommissioned – meaning 75 homeowners are on a transmission line running through the county that the city doesn’t need anymore.
"This is outside our service area," explained Nova Heaton, the Snohomish Public Works Director. "They’re not our residents, they’re Snohomish County residents. So, we’re hoping to work with the county and PUD to come up with some strategies and ideas."
Luckily for the residents, the city is working to fix the line, despite their hopes to move the line into someone else’s care.
"We can’t just leave these people without water," said Heaton. "But, it’s also well outside our jurisdiction, so we have to work with the county and PUD to find answers that make sense."
In this latest break, they’re making a move that works for everyone. The city is working with a contractor to hook up the aging transmission line at a new location, cutting out roughly a half-mile of old, unused pipes. However, a large portion of the line was last laid in the late 70s, meaning other problems could lie ahead.
Heaton told FOX 13 that once the latest fix is wrapped up, they will need to test the water pressure for a few days before they can lift the boil water advisory. Barring unforeseen issues, they will likely lift the boil water advisory early next week.
That said, the line is aging.
The Mayor of Snohomish, Linda Redmon, noted as much earlier this week, when she declared an emergency to help with permitting for work, and to get water delivered to customers that were without water.
"The work being done for this current event will also inform our ongoing evaluation of the status of our infrastructure and help us form a strategic plan to address the problems. Our goal is to preserve and strengthen our community, especially our vital infrastructure," said Redmon.
Infrastructure concerns are nothing new in Snohomish, or any Washington community.
The last time the American Society of Civil Engineers issued their state-by-state report card on infrastructure, Washington State received a "C" grade. In terms of drinking water, the state got a lower "C-" grade.
"Many smaller jurisdictions are limited in resources and are not able to provide consistent preventative maintenance to their systems, which leads to more emergency repairs," the report noted. "As infrastructure ages, these types of repairs become costly for systems that are not well maintained or funded."
When the Biden administration released their American Jobs plan, they estimated that Washington would require an $11.7 billion investment in additional funding for drinking water infrastructure.
As for those affected by the latest water main break on the aging transmission line in Snohomish County, they are just hoping any fixes come with fewer boil water advisories.
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"We’ve had lower pressure several times, but we can deal with that," said Jones. "We have water in the fridge, water cooling on the counter, water boiling, and then we have room temperature water everyone drinks."
For more details on the City of Snohomish boil water advisory, and what steps should be taken you can get updated details on the city's website.