Under fire for cutting down trees and tearing up streets, city to test alternatives to water main replacement

Was it really necessary to tear down trees, tear up streets and more than double water and sewer rates to replace Chicago’s century-old water pipes?

Or could it have been done more cheaply and less disruptively — to the environment and, potentially, to water quality — by re-lining those aging pipes?

Mayor Lori Lightfoot is apparently determined to find out.

Under pressure from a handful of aldermen concerned about saving trees and minimizing disruption, the Department of Water Management is launching a pair of pilot programs to test pipe-lining technologies that extend the life of water mains and private drains instead of replacing them.

The first test will involve so-called “cured-in-place pipe” that uses water or air pressure to insert a resin-soaked tube, which is pulled through an existing pipe and allowed to harden. It forms a “tight-fitting, jointless and corrosion-resistant replacement pipe,” City Hall said. The process “only requires digging access points for entry and exit,” officials said.

The second test will determine whether service lines that run from street mains to individual homes can be similarly rehabilitated using lining technology. Even so, tree removal may be required since service lines run beneath the parkway, officials said.

The test areas haven’t been picked, but the city expects results by the end of next year.

The tests won’t come soon enough for rookie Ald. Andre Vasquez (40th) and the West Edgewater residents he represents.

“In the 5900 block of North Hermitage, the Bureau of Forestry, after guidance from the Water Department, had chopped 12 trees down on the same block. The whole block got decimated. It was like a rainforest being torn down. People were crying at their doors,” Vasquez said Friday.

“Without that shade, they have to pay extra to air-condition their homes because they’re taking direct sun. … They get concerned that the property values go down. And in order to re-grow it, it’s impossible. It takes forever. ... When the replacement comes, people get a sapling.”

For Ald. Brian Hopkins (2^nd), the concern wasn’t trees as much as it was disruption.

A water main replacement project on Division Street between State Street and the lakefront in his ward turned into a nightmare. It dragged on for nearly a year longer than expected, closing the street for an extended period.

“There were numerous conflicts with things that were underground that we didn’t know were there. ... The amount of dust and vibration from the project was untenable. Some people had damage to the foundations of their homes from the constant jackhammering. The dust was making it unlivable,” he said.

“This technology that we’re talking about would have made that entire project unnecessary. We could have lined that water main without having to dig up Division Street, close it for a year. It would have saved a lot of aggravation.”

The decision to test the technologies comes seven years after former Mayor Rahm Emanuel more than doubled water and sewer rates to rebuild Chicago’s aging water infrastructure.

Already, the city has replaced 716 miles of water mains, 167 miles of sewer mains and lined 403 miles of sewer mains.

Even if the lining technology works, Hopkins doesn’t see it as a citywide solution.

“I’m not going to suggest we abandon replacement. There may be places where it may be the best alternative. When it doesn’t affect trees. When it doesn’t affect arterial roads. When the condition of the existing main has some other defects that make lining less effective,” the alderman said.

Re-lining may potentially be a solution to the $2 billion problem of replacing lead service lines, Hopkins said.

“The industry is working on developing something that could line the lead service lines. We could solve the lead problem in Chicago without the need to dig up every Chicago resident’s front yard,” he said.