Construction Update: February 2026

February brought a lot of snow to West Parish Filters. But amid the drifts, crews made progress on installing operator valve stems for new transmission pipelines, modifications to the Backwash Facility, and replacing old stormwater infrastructure.

From clay to corrugated

South of the existing treatment plant, crews excavated the old drainage pipes at “DMH 104,” or drainage manhole 104, to upgrade the site’s stormwater system. That meant removing existing clay pipe and replacing it with new, more durable corrugated pipe.

Installing corrugated stormwater pipe into precast concrete risers.

To do so, crews connected a new section of corrugated HDPE pipe to a round precast concrete riser. They then created a watertight joint between the pipe and the riser to seal against leaks. Two or three additional riser sections will be stacked on top of the one shown here to bring the structure up to its final height. All of this will be hidden underneath a modest manhole when it’s finished!

Installing a stem operator at the chemical injection valve.

Making connections

At the chemical injection vault, crews installed the stem operator for the butterfly valve. The stem operator, typically painted blue, connects the handwheel at the surface to the valve mechanism below. When the operator turns the wheel, the stem rotates a rod that opens or closes the butterfly valve inside the vault.

This valve regulates flow through the main water line, which also contains chemical injection quills branching off the pipe. Everything except the stem was installed last year—this final piece now allows crews to manually control the flow of water into the chemical injection vault.

Stem Extensions for Underground Valves

The same general stem operator installation activity was happening on the east side of the sand bins, except some excavation was required to connect to the underground pipe network. The black pipes pictured house the stem operators for underground valves.

Electrical work in the Backwash Facility

In the Backwash Facility, an electrical subcontractor completed the wiring for the new valve motor operators, bringing the system to its final configuration. The valve shown is now motor‑actuated. The operator assembly was already in place, and this work connected the motor controls to open and close the valve in the recycle line. With the wiring complete, this line is now fully operational.

Further installation of raw water pipes

Finally, installation of the 60- and 72-inch raw water pipelines continued. Shown here are workers stripping the block formwork from a completed section before moving it to the next section. Raw water pipeline installation should be complete by the end of the year.