By DERRICK NOETZEL
Contributing Writer
Keller and Sons Construction has recently torn out the clay tile sewer piping that has been broken and blocked at 759 and 765 Madison Ave. Justin Shievelbein, sewer foreman for the city of Albany,
said that roots can grow into the clay tile pipes, since they are becoming brittle. They have been in place for around 100 years and are becoming more brittle as time passes.
After the water goes through the taps, the sewers catch the water, and according to John Charland, an employee of Keller Construction who has worked with Albany’s sewers since 1978, “the sewer’s shot.”
Shievelbein said that the pipes in the Pine Hills and surrounding areas are predominantly made of clay tile. “Almost like the same texture as a coffee mug, with a different glaze,” said another Keller employee, William Jefferson.
“All the wastewater in the pipes makes the trees grow even faster and the roots end up blocking water flow,” said Charland.
He added, “Another problem is that the sanitary run off water from the streets mixes with the sewer line, so with the root blocking most of the path, water gets backed up into people’s homes. Where it isn’t blocked and the two water lines are overflowing the pipes, the overflow of sewage ends up in the river.”
Joe Hahn, project manager at the two Madison Ave. addresses, said “To repair the whole system would bring astronomical costs.” Jefferson added “It’s impossible to put a price tag on a job. We never know how much work we’ll need to do until we start digging.”
There are obstacles that sometimes get in their way to replace the clay pipes, like underground electrical wiring and water lines bringing clean water into homes. Hahn said, “We dig the old pipe out, replace it, and replace any curbs or sidewalks too.” So the price for just one break in the sewer line varies greatly between incidents.
Hahn said that the city was having Keller replace the clay tile with the newest state of the art sewer material: PVC piping. “The only thing that makes it weak is sunlight,” he said.
Jefferson said that Keller is on an emergency contract with the city of Albany, so the city employees find issues in the system, and then call Keller in to fix it. The workers said they have pretty steady work with their emergency contracts, and that the city of Albany really needs to revamp its sewer system, especially with large complexes like Saint Rose’s new Centennial Hall. “They put that huge building in to pack a lot of kids in, and all of those kids are flushing into the same brittle sewer system as everywhere else,” Charland said.
Albany’s tap water has been recognized as the best tasting water in the state. Schievelbein said, “We get our water from predominantly one reservoir that is really clean.” He said that the state bought a large plot of land surrounding the Alcove Reservoir, Albany’s main source of water. The water doesn’t need to be filtered as much, which makes the flavor better.
