OCWA Announces Water Service Line Material Investigation Effort

OCWA – Central New York’s Water Authority continues to confirm the construction material of water service lines as part of its Water Service Line Inventory, a federal regulatory requirement. Starting this week and going through June, OCWA crews and contractors will visit the properties of approximately 1,200 randomly selected customers in OCWA’s five-county service area (about 1% of OCWA’s customers) to visually identify the construction material of underground water service lines.

A customer with a service line that has been identified for investigation can expect the following:

1. An OCWA team member will visit the property several days prior to excavation and indicate the location of the service line with blue markings.
2. A door tag will be left on the door of the customer’s home indicating that the line will be investigated in the coming days.
3. On the day of investigation, OCWA contractors Arcadis and T&K Harrington will utilize vacuum excavating, a precise non-destructive digging method, to expose a small section of the water service line (typically 2ft x 1ft) in the vicinity of the property line. The water service line will be visually inspected, and photographed, and the construction material will be documented.
4. A Water Service Line Material Report with results of the investigation (service line material determination) will be left at the customer’s door the same day.
5. The excavation site will be filled immediately, and restoration of the area (typically with the application of grass seed) will be completed within 2 weeks following the investigation.

It is important for customers to know that they do not need to be home during this process, and their water service should not be interrupted. Approximately 100 investigations will be completed each week from now until the end of June.

Any questions regarding the Service Line Material Investigation process can be directed to OCWA at 315-455-7061 ext. 3139.