Water is the last utility that must be connected to the River House. The Concord Water Department requires that any renovation or reconstruction project of a house older than 50 years must also include replacing the water main. Given that our house is located some 300 feet from the street, this is a non-trivial and expensive undertaking. Step one: Cut an opening in the roadway. Step Two: Excavate with a backhoe to a depth of 4 feet. Step Three: (the most interesting) Bring in the water department to expose the water main using what amounts to a pressure washer and massive vacuum cleaner truck. The high-pressure water is used to cut into the soil which is then sucked into the truck. This approach is used to prevent mechanical damage to the water main during excavation.

When Conantum (our neighborhood) was first established, the residents established and operated their own water utility including means for fluoridation long before it was available from the town. Eventually, our water district joined the town’s. Unfortunately, record keeping was not great and the exact location of the water main in our street was not well documented. It took several attempts to locate the water main and our take-off but eventually, all was exposed. Step Four: Decommission the old water take-off and add a new one using a saddle valve. The saddle valve makes it possible to tap into the main water line without interrupting service. Step Five: Connect the take-off valve to a new underground water meter pit by the side of the road. Step Six: Excavate a 300-foot long, 5-foot deep trench to the house and place the new water line on a base of sand before backfilling and compacting. Happily, all aspects of the work went according to plan and we are now ready to complete the final bits of plumbing work inside the house.