Drinking water line repair

You may recall a couple of weeks ago, the bathrooms near 13 green were out of order. The issue actually had to do with the drinking water line near the Grounds department maintenance facility.

The drinking water for the property comes from 3 onsite wells. It is pumped to the small building across the cart path from the chipping green, and then distributed around the property from there. After coming down the hill, one section of pipe splits off and comes towards the maintenance facility, and then from the maintenance facility it heads out to the bathrooms on 13. Recently we had 2 separate breaks in this section of pipe located under the parking lot of the maintenance facility and had to turn the water off twice to make the repairs.

Excavation work beginning

We noticed a wet area in our parking lot several weeks ago. We were able to determine it was the drinking water line leaking by isolating a specific section of the pipe and turning the water off. It took some time to get the repair company out to do the work, so we left the water on during that time. But, in that lull between finding the original leak and our contractors arriving, another leak developed.

It took quite some time to find the pipe

Once the digging started, we turned the water off to locate the pipe. Now with two leaks to repair, we had two large holes to dig on opposite ends of our parking lot. The contractor kept excavating more and more but couldn’t locate the pipe. Incredibly, the pipe that was put in (likely when the building was built 50 years ago) was set nearly 10 feet deep. The pipe was finally found, repaired, and water was turned back on. The holes were filled in with gravel and plans were made to repave.

However, overnight, a third leak developed! Luckily(?), this leak was in one of the other holes, so only the gravel needed to be cleared back out, we did not have to make another hole. This third leak was very near one of the original repairs and was likely partly caused by disturbing the soil. The pipe wasn’t directly damaged from the work, but the soil or pipe could have shifted, or vibrations from the equipment could have caused a weak area to break. This third leak caused a second major stoppage of water in the bathrooms and a second closure in a week.

Water can be seen in the gravel. This is from
the third leak that developed after the initial repairs.

Final gravel installation

We were lucky to get the repair work done quickly and not have the bathrooms closed for a longer period of time.

 

Etiquette Reminder of the Month

Please remember to remove any bunker sand that may be stuck to your spikes before walking on the greens.

Also, as part of a Golf Committee initiative to improve course etiquette, we have included links to videos teaching proper on course etiquette. Please take a moment to watch:

Ball Marks - How to properly repair

Golf Cart tips

 

 

 

See you on the course!

Joe

jvillegas@bwrc.org