Bristol County Water Authority Pipeline Project Featured in NASTT-NE Northeast Journal of Trenchless Technology Practices
April 8, 2020
BRISTOL COUNTY WATER AUTHORITY 2019 PVC SLIPLINING OF THE EAST BAY PIPELINE
NASTT-NE Northeast Journal of Trenchless Technology Practices
By: Paul Smith, P.E., BETA Group, Inc.
Michael Crawford, P.E., Bristol County Water Authority
The Bristol County Water Authority (BCWA) provides water to approximately 50,000 customers in the Towns of Bristol, Barrington and Warren Rhode Island. The BCWA is a wholesale customer of the Providence Water Supply Board (PWSB). As such, BCWA receives 100 percent of its supply from the PWSB through a conduit called the East Bay Pipeline.
In April of 2019, an alert was triggered resulting from a differential in two BCWA venturi meters located on either side of the Providence River. The differential in flow readings indicated that the East Bay Pipeline sprung a major leak, leaking approximately 400,000 gallons per day.