AIR TEST
Pressure testing is almost always the most accurate – and most expensive – way to detect leaks in sewer lines.
Two alternatives, smoke and dye testing, tend to be cheaper but produce less-effective results.
So, Johnstown City Council had a tough decision to make when it required property owners to find out if their systems could hold flow and prevent infiltration. Smoke, dye or pressure?
Board members ultimately required pressure testing, which can cost around $150, as opposed to smoke or dye. The testing is part of an overall effort to eliminate sanitary sewer overflows from the city by Dec. 31, 2022, as mandated by a consent agreement reached with the state Department of Environmental Protection in July 2010. “We didn’t negotiate (pressure testing) and we didn’t mandate it, but we support what they’re doing,” said John Poister, a DEP community relations coordinator. “They made a very strong case to us that this will do the trick and alleviate the overflow problem there.” Some residents have expressed opposition to the pressure testing during recent town hall meetings and other forums.
DEP’s consent order only required the city to conduct smoke and/or dye testing, which many properties would pass. However, the majority of older sewer systems, especially those using terra cotta pipes, will likely fail the more strenuous pressure tests.
“Generally speaking, I’ve been around a lot of these over the years, out in Forest Hills, up around the Washington Township area, in Lilly, the Pegasus system, the Dale Borough system,” said the city’s engineer, Steve Sewalk of The EADS Group. “To date, I haven’t seen any terra cotta that has passed. I’m not saying it won’t, but the odds are pretty great that if you have terra cotta, it’s not going to pass. But, by all means, if you think it will, then you should check it, and that’s the way you check it, you pressure test it.”
On Wednesday, City Councilman Pete Vizza presented a resolution, asking the city to cease and desist with the pressure test requirement.
The motion died when no other council member seconded it. “What I did was for the folks that I represent,” said Vizza. “I was fortunate enough to get re-elected by these folks. They asked me, ‘Can you do anything about the pressure testing?’ I said, ‘Yes, I will do what I can about the pressure testing’ and go back with the consent order’s original language for the smoke and dye. I owed it to the people that I represent to do that, and I was happy to do it, and I’d do it again.”
Why pressure testing?
DEP officials told Johnstown to get rid of its sanitary sewer overflows, but did not spell out a specific way to do so. The decision fell to council. Board members considered three main options. Building a larger facility to replace the current Dornick Point sewage treatment plant could cost in excess of $500 million. Council also thought about constructing either above- or below-ground holding tanks in order to contain water and waste during heavy rains or snow melts and then slowly release it into the plant. Installing above-ground tanks would have likely cost $150 million initially and required putting stations in multiple neighborhoods. Below-ground tanks would have probably reached $300 million.
None of those prices included future maintenance costs. Their construction would have likely led to significantly larger sewer bills for customers. Council eventually decided to replace all of its main lines at an anticipated cost of slightly more than $100 million.
The other part of the plan called for all residents to verify that their systems are functioning properly by passing a pressure test. “I talked to a professional plumber, and he said it’s very possible to pass a smoke and dye test, but your home will not pass a pressure test,” said Sell Street resident Charlene Stanton, a vocal opponent of the pressure-test requirement, during a recent town hall meeting at Greater Johnstown High School.
Prices for the construction work vary, depending on the amount of excavation, sewer line installation and rebuilding. The average cost is between $2,500 and $3,000, according to Sewalk, who surveyed almost a dozen local contractors. Estimates of up to $15,000 have been reported. Homeowners must pay the bills immediately upon completion of the work. “It’s cheaper overall, but the homeowners, who don’t get a 30-year loan out of the deal at low interest (like the city can), have to pay up front, but it’s a cheaper fix long term,” said Sewalk. “And it’s less costly long term because you don’t have nearly the cost in maintenance.”
So far, approximately 20 percent of properties within the Johnstown Redevelopment Authority’s sanitary sewer system have been pressure tested, according to Sewalk.
Sewalk cited flow studies, taken in July 2012 from four other systems – Southmont, Daisytown, Pegasus and Dale – connected to the Johnstown lines, to show why he feels requiring pressure testing is the best option.
Southmont, which, at the time had a clay pipe system that was not pressure tested on mains or laterals, experienced more than a dozen days with spikes above the accepted flow level. Daisytown, which had no pressure-tested private laterals in its PVC system that was more than 10 years old, recorded three major surges and a few minor movements. Only once did Pegasus, where 65 percent of private laterals had been pressure tested, go above its alloted flow. Dale’s system, with 100-percent, pressure-tested private lines, never once surpassed its approved limit.
“Replacing the main lines and public laterals does not remove enough inflow and infiltration to meet the JRA plant capacity and also the DEP design criteria,” said Sewalk. “Replacing mainlines and private laterals up to the foundation does not remove enough (inflow and infiltration) to get us there either. Replacing all of the mains and the private laterals with pressure testing gets us to where the system needs to be.”
Some confusion exists as to how many pressure tests must be completed.
If, after talking to contractors, a property owner feels a structure’s current system will not pass a pressure test, then the customer can originally skip the procedure, get the necessary work done and then pressure test the final product. However, if a property owner thinks a system can pass, then a pressure test can be done in the beginning. It’s a gamble, though. Pass and that’s it – no more work would be necessary. Fail and construction must be done and verified with another pressure test. Regardless, all properties need to pass only one pressure test.
“The final product has to be pressure tested, so it’s not like you need two of them,” Sewalk said. All properties with sewer service need to pass a pressure test and link into the new lines.
“If you have active service, you are required,” said City Manager Kristen Denne. “If the house does not have service, no service whatsoever and they are not using the pipes, we will cap them at the line. At the point at which they reapply for the service, it will be necessary that they have to tap into the system the same as every single residence, commercial business and facility in the city of Johnstown.”
Stanton and some other opponents of pressure testing have suggested the city should try other approaches to dealing with the overflows.
“Wouldn’t it make sense to do all of the city streets first before going to homeowners?” asked Stanton during the public meeting.
Sewalk believes that plan would not guarantee results because, if the city’s work was completed and all of the overflows were not eliminated, then there probably would not be enough time to get into compliance before the 2022 deadline when the DEP could start levying heavy fines. Plus, doing all the work at once will enable the city to create a dual system with separate lines for stormwater and sanitary sewer removal.
How it works
Pressure tests take place in a completely sealed environment.
An inflatable rubber plug is used to cap off the point where the customer’s lateral meets the city’s lateral, thus keeping the main lines out of the testing procedure. Other stoppers are inserted wherever air might escape, whether outside or in a basement. Air is then pumped into the lines. A system must hold 5 pounds of pressure per square inch for 15 minutes in order to pass.
“The pressure test is done to basically simulate water around the pipe, water in the saturated ground,” said Sewalk. “That’s why the pressure test is done.”
The test does not show exactly where leaks are located, so property owners who fail must replace the entire system, which might involve digging up a basement. Costs can escalate, depending on the work needed to bring the basement back to its previous condition, as in a finished basement compared with a bare concrete room used just for storage.
Smoke testing is conducted by pumping smoke into a system and looking for puffs of smoke. However, the technique cannot show leaks located below structures. Smoke testing is also not effective if a property has a trap used to prevent sewer odor from backing up into structures.
Dye testing involves coloring water and looking for where it reappears after flowing through a system. EADS conducted dye testing on all Johnstown properties, except where downspouts sending water onto the ground were already visible.
Opponents of pressure testing have suggested other options, such as using video cameras or digging up the ground to check on the condition of pipes. Sewalk feels those would not detect all of the small leaks that can create problems.
Impact on housing
Even EADS’ report on the project listed potential house abandonment as a possible negative side effect of the plan. However, to date, no residents have come forth to The Tribune-Democrat claiming high sewer-line construction costs have forced them to leave a residence. It has become an issue in the process of selling property, though.
“We hear their concerns every time we list a home for sale,” said Sue Lease, past president of the Cambria/Somerset Association of Realtors and associate broker/owner of RE/MAX POWER Associates.
“We also hear from property owners who are not selling, but are in an area that is soon going to require repairs, as they will have to obtain the money to get the work done and want to understand the process, etc. Some sellers still aren’t aware that there is a requirement that they must make repairs when they sell, although that is becoming less frequent with all of the media coverage.
“The biggest concern is that in some cases, the seller will not have enough proceeds to cover all of their closing costs, if the property has a low market value, and/or if there is a mortgage on the property that is close to the market value. They are also concerned about the ‘timing’ of getting the work done. Plumbers are busy, so agents typically provide guidance as to how to handle that once a home is sold to ensure it gets done by the closing date.”
Lease said she has not noticed a change in market values because of the ordinance.
“It affects the seller’s bottom line, but not the market value, in my experience,” said Lease.
Legality
Required pressure testing has already passed a local legal challenge.
A decade ago, Forest Hills Municipal Authority required customers to pass pressure tests. Summerhill Township resident Dan Penatzer fought the requirement in the Cambria County court. “My challenge was that they were being oppressive,” said Penatzer, Ebensburg Borough’s manager.
The court ruled against him.
He ended up having to pay more than $10,000 to get all of his sewer replacement and basement repair work completed.
“I think it was excessive,” said Penatzer. “I think it was expensive for people. I think they should have to determine that a system is actually leaking water before they would force somebody to replace it.”
Penatzer believes it is reasonable to ask customers to replace exterior terra cotta lines that are more exposed to seeping water from rain and melting snow. He opposes making people dig up basements.
“I get pretty passionate about it,” Penatzer said. “I just think it’s such a hardship on people.” He added, “It’s the inexpensive way for the municipality. It’s the expensive way for the customers.”
Requiring the pressure test is still legal, though.
“It’s the city’s prerogative as to which way they want to go,” said Dave Andrews, Johnstown’s solicitor. “I don’t believe that it could be subject to a legal challenge.”
Paying for the work
Some low-income Johnstown residents might get assistance paying their connection costs.
In a request to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the city has asked to use $133,302 of next year’s anticipated $1.2 million Community Development Block Grant allocation to help residents cover the tap-in expenses. Funds would be made available to individuals who meet HUD’s standards for extremely low, very low or low income.
The proposed plan would cover part of the costs up to $3,000 per recipient.
“It could be huge,” said Renee Daly, the city’s economic development director.
If HUD approves the plan, there would be enough money to assist about 45 customers in 2015. Council hopes to get similar funding in ensuing years.
Johnstown also plans to apply for $500,000 in grant money from the state Department of Community and Economic Development that could then be used to help property owners cover expenses. “It would definitely be some assistance to people who qualify,” said Josh Summits, the city’s economic development coordinator.
The current plan requires property owners to complete their portion of the work within one year after the main lines are installed in their neighborhood. That will remain true for communities in the future where residents can save money in advance.
However, for individuals living where work has already started – Hornerstown, Walnut Grove and parts of Roxbury and Oakhurst – an extension will be granted, meaning those who need to comply by 2014 will now have until 2016, according to City Councilwoman Marie Mock, who announced the change that was supported by Councilman Dr. Joseph Taranto and others during the board’s meeting on Wednesday.
Dave Sutor is a reporter for The Tribune-Democrat. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/Dave_Sutor.