Water valve replacement needed at Long Lake

Bloomfield Hills city commissioners unanimously approved having Hubbell, Roth & Clark do engineering work and create a proposal for rehabilitation work for a pressure relief water valve in the intersection of Long Lake and Woodward, at their meeting on Tuesday, October 9.

City manager Dave Hendrickson explained there are five pressure relief valves in the city, which are part of the water system from the Oakland County Water Resources Commission. “We rehabilitated two in the last few years. Two are operating fine. One needs to be completely replaced,” Hendrickson said, which will cost the city about $600,000.

In Hubbell, Roth & Clark's report, they said the piping, bolts and valves are “severely corroded and degrading at an accelerated rate… This equipment has far exceeded their service life and are in need of replacement.”

A pressure relief valve (PRV) is part of the system where the water comes into the city from other communities, and acts as a way of controlling the amount of water pressure to residences and businesses.

The broken PRV is situated in the southwest quadrant of the intersection of Long Lake and Woodward, mayor Sarah McClure said, in the right-of-way.

“We voted to have the design work done over the next few months, and then the construction will be done in the next construction season,” McClure said.

Hubbell, Roth & Clark estimated a budget of $47,500 for their work, and commissioners voted 5-0 to approve the design work.

Hendrickson said the Water Resources Commission will do the actual replacement, “because they are the entity that manages our water.”