Portsmouth Faces $1.9 Billion Bill to Overhaul Aging Water and Sewer Systems

Water mains break about every two minutes in the United States, and the American Society of Civil Engineers says aging infrastructure is a factor. Repairing and replacing those systems costs billions of dollars nationwide, and Portsmouth is now confronting its own share of the bill.

At a Jan. 28 city council meeting, Portsmouth officials described the strain on the system. Director of Public Utilities Russell Stevens said crews had dealt with 22 main breaks over the previous two weeks. "It's unheard of," he said, adding that workers had been out day and night in freezing conditions.

City Engineer James Wright told council members that more than two-thirds of the city's pipes are fully depreciated, meaning they have outlived their useful life. Some of the oldest transmission mains carrying water from Suffolk date to the 1890s, he said, and 40 percent of downtown sewer lines were installed before 1920.

Wright listed several priorities, including the need for Portsmouth to be lead-free by 2037 to comply with regulations. He also said the water distribution system, sewer pump stations and water treatment systems all require work. Paying for the repairs and upgrades would take $1.9 billion, which he said works out to just under $127 million a year until 2040.

City Manager Steven Carter said officials understand the scope of the work. "We know what needs to be done," he said, but added that the city cannot "throw enough people at it and enough money at it to catch up" without help. Councilman Mark A. Hugel compared the presentation to an elephant, saying the only way to eat one is "a bite at a time."

The issue extends beyond Portsmouth. Jeff Scarano, director of design and construction for special projects at Hampton Roads Sanitation District (HRSD), said the agency closely monitors the buried pipes that carry sewage from localities to treatment plants. Because the sewage is under pressure, he said, a break typically causes it to bubble up to the ground.

Asked by News 3 reporter Erika Craven whether residents should worry about a catastrophic failure, Scarano said no. He said HRSD and the cities have been proactive about buried infrastructure and are working on large known defects before they become problems. Breaks in the region, he said, are generally "pretty unremarkable."

Scarano explained that some projects are set by regulators with firm deadlines. Others are ranked by weighing the likelihood of failure against its potential consequences. A 70-year-old pipe that has lost much of its integrity and sits near a major roadway, a waterway or beneath a home would rank higher, he said.

Carter said the problems in Portsmouth built up over a long period. "Nothing we're talking about today is a result of what happened yesterday; it's decades in the making," he said, adding that the city is putting procedures in place to prevent a repeat. Wright recommended that Portsmouth plan for regulatory requirements, scale projects to be affordable and pursue grant funding.