March 22, 2012 - Denver Water’s pipes are getting a facelift. The utility’s pipe rehabilitation program, which involves cleaning old, unlined cast-iron water mains and lining them with a cement mortar lining, may be coming to a neighborhood near you.
Beginning Monday, April 2, and continuing through the summer, a Denver Water contractor will be cleaning and lining water mains in central and east Denver. The work will take place from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., Mondays through Saturdays.
The project will move in phases, taking place within the 
following boundaries, though not every street within the boundaries will be impacted:
- Phase one: (April–July) From just east of Colorado Boulevard to Jasmine Street, between Third Avenue and Eighth Avenue
- Phase two: (July–October)
- From Corona Street to Columbine Street between First Avenue and Sixth Avenue
- From Grant Street to Pearl Street between Third Avenue and Sixth Avenue
The work will begin at Fairfax Avenue and Fourth Avenue, and move east, and then west. The schedule of work may change depending on unexpected issues during the project.
“Denver Water’s proactive maintenance program to rehabilitate cast-iron pipe in its system is important in staying on top of our aging infrastructure,” said Tom Roode, director of operations and maintenance for Denver Water. “In addition to cleaning and lining the pipes, we’re able to add and replace valves during this work. This project is critically important in maintaining and rehabilitating water mains in Denver Water’s system to maintain water quality, minimize water outages and ensure adequate fire flows.”
To stay on top of necessary infrastructure upgrades, in 2010, Denver Water implemented a program to increase the amount of pipe rehabilitated each year. The goal is to rehab 50,000 feet per year, up from 30,000 feet.
“It is often cheaper and less disruptive to customers to rehabilitate older pipe using cement mortar lining, rather than installing entirely new pipe,” said Roode. “Not all pipes are candidates for rehabilitation, though, so we also have a proactive pipe replacement program for pipes that can’t be relined.”