York High School benefits from additional water supply lines

The Newport News Waterworks Department recently added additional water pipelines to provide a redundant water supply to York High School. Last October, a main pipeline break occurred on the supply line that crosses under Route 17 requiring a water shut off and school was suspended. Not only did the water outage affect school staff and students, but the inconvenience required school officials to modify after school programs. The purpose of a second water supply is to minimize any future interruptions to water service to the school. 

The cast iron pipeline that supplied the school was installed in 1961. Waterworks staff coordinated with York County School personnel on a new design to replace all of the existing cast iron pipe with new, more reliable ductile iron. The redesign relocated meters to standard locations and included the replacement of existing hydrants as well as the installation of one new fire hydrant. In addition, the school has pipelines supporting the facilities from both Cook Road and Falcon Road in an effort to lower the possibility of any future water service interruption. The Waterworks Department funds these types of projects from the Distribution System Improvement program.