CAMARILLO : Camrosa Replacing Faulty Water Pipes

Camrosa Water District officials said they are proceeding with a program to replace faulty plastic pipes that connect residential users to street-side water mains.

The pipes, known as laterals, have been shattering or bursting prematurely, Chris Smith, Camrosa’s manager of engineering services, said last week.

“Of the 2,600 of these laterals that we originally installed, we have about 1,600 left to replace,” Smith said. “They advertised that the equipment would last 25 years, and it hasn’t even come close.”

The pipes were installed in the district from 1976 to 1983. Camrosa’s replacement effort began about two years ago. The water utility, which serves about 8,000 residences in Camarillo and the Santa Rosa Valley, is replacing the laterals at a rate of about 800 a year, Smith said.

Ventura-based Sam Hill Construction, the company selected to do the replacement job, is replacing the plastic pipe with copper tubing in a procedure that requires a resident’s water to be turned off for about an hour.

Smith said construction crews are working on replacing the faulty connectors in Camarillo’s east side.

The water district is paying for the new installation with funds generated from a settlement with the plastic pipe maker, a subsidiary of Shell Oil Co. Smith said he did not know exactly why the piping is faulty.

Smith said work is being timed to coincide with the city’s street repaving effort to avoid tearing up freshly laid asphalt.