California American Water to replace 30,000 feet of main and 500 meters in Parkway

California American Water will commence the second phase of its multi-million dollar Parkway water main replacement and meter installation project this week.

During this phase, the company will replace and relocate approximately 30,000 feet of water mains originally installed in the 1950s. The mains will be relocated from customers’ backyards to the street side of properties in Sacramento’s Parkway and North Parkway neighborhoods. Relocating water mains to the public right-of-way greatly improves accessibility for maintenance crews and reduces the amount of time required to shut down service for maintenance and repair. Additionally, many of the mains being replaced will be upsized to significantly improve fire protection and system reliability.

During this main relocation project, the company will install about 500 meters on homes within the project zone. This work is part of our ongoing project to retrofit all flat-rate properties with water meters in order to comply with state law and encourage water efficient practices.

“This $6-million-dollar project is just one of several we have in Sacramento that will improve the service, safety and reliability of the water system to our customers,” said Northern California general manager Andy Soule. “Customers within this project can expect to see employees conducting preliminary surveys in the next couple weeks. By next month, construction should begin. All customers will be notified prior to any work being done on their property.”

California American Water has sent notifications and permission-to-enter forms to all customers within the project area as well as those nearby who might be impacted by the work. The company urges those customers who have not yet returned their permission forms to do so this month to reduce any unnecessary delays to the project.

Planning for the project’s final phase is already under way. The bidding and contracting process for last phase will begin near the end of this year with work expected to begin in 2013.

California American Water, a wholly owned subsidiary of American Water (NYSE: AWK), provides high-quality and reliable water and/or wastewater services to approximately 600,000 people.

Founded in 1886, American Water is the largest publicly traded U.S. water and wastewater utility company. With headquarters in Voorhees, N.J., the company employs more than 7,000 dedicated professionals who provide drinking water, wastewater and other related services to approximately 15 million people in more than 30 states, as well as parts of Canada. More information can be found by visiting www.amwater.com.