Aging infrastructure complicates hospital water system repair

Petersburg Medical Center (PMC) completed a complex water system repair project last week that highlights both the ingenuity of local maintenance crews and the mounting infrastructure challenges facing the community's critical access hospital.

The project began February 5 when the six-inch sprinkler main suddenly developed a hole. "We threw a patch on it that we got from the city, and that actually stopped the leak," explained Wolf Brooks, PMC's Facilities Engineer. But this leak revealed a bigger problem.

The maintenance crew realized they would be unable to shut the water off for further repairs, due to concerns that the backflow preventer in the hospitals water system - a critical safety device with valves that prevents contaminated water from flowing back into the public water supply - would shut but would be unable to open again. "None of those valves have been exercised in probably at least 40 years," said Brooks. "We had concerns that if we shut the water off, this backflow preventer would shut and essentially we wouldn't have water to our building until we figured something out."

They needed to replace the backflow preventer in the system, but manufacturing of this component had been discontinued for approximately 20 years, so finding compatible replacement parts delayed the project for months.

Last week, with suitable parts acquired, it was time to tackle the procedure.

PMC's maintenance crew worked with Christopher Ramlogan with Absolute Drains, a local plumbing and heating company, who brought in an additional contractor from out of state to help execute the specialized project.

They scheduled the shut-off and repair late at night to reduce the risk of patients and staff being affected.

Using liquid nitrogen freeze kits, the two plumbers froze the water lines on either side of the work area, essentially creating temporary valves that allowed them to maintain pressure in the building's water system during the repair.

"We had to ensure that we kept pressure on our building's water," Brooks said. "Our biggest concern was that if we lost pressure on the building system, when we turn water back on, it would break loose a lot of the sediment, which then would clog things up."

The precaution proved wise. When crews opened the old valves, they discovered extensive deterioration and mineral buildup that had accumulated over decades of use. Some valves were completely stuck, others were severely deteriorated.

The project provided what was likely the first look inside PMC's main water supply lines in over 40 years, revealing extensive scale buildup and deterioration.

"Everything has a life expectancy and we're basically at that point with a lot of our domestic water supply, our heating system, sprinkler system," Brooks noted. "When you have a six-inch steel pipe that just randomly pops a hole in it, then you know that a lot of the rest of the system isn't very far behind it."

Water was shut down for approximately five hours during nighttime hours, and contingency planning ensured patient care could continue safely.

"There was a lot of planning and coordination that went into this, but it all went very well," Brooks said. "We had minimal impact to our building."

The sprinkler system repair remains on the horizon, requiring another building-wide water shutdown. However, the new backflow preventer and valves installed during this project will make future work less stressful, as crews now have functional isolation valves on the domestic water side.

*Editor's note: This story has been modified for clarity since publication to include addition detail about Absolute Drains, the local plumber involved with the project.