The Bristol County Water Authority (BCWA) is about to launch two significant projects that will be noticeable, temporarily disruptive and designed to give Bristol’s water infrastructure a major boost, particularly in areas along Metacom Avenue, the Industrial Park and the Michael Drive neighborhood.

In Bristol, the water authority maintains two separate pressure zones. An elevated tank off Metacom Avenue is used to create a “high service area” and increases the pressure for customers at higher ground elevations. The planned improvements, which include three separate contracts for a total of $4.5 million, will transfer an additional one thousand customers (households or businesses) to the high service area, thereby increasing both pressure and fire flow in these neighborhoods. Work will begin in July and continue throughout the summer and fall.

• Contract 1: Awarded to D’Ambra Construction with a project budget of $2,100,000. Work will begin in July with the installation of a new 2” main in Maytum and Sousa streets, and a valve in an underground vault on Michael Drive. Starting in August, construction will begin on new 12” high service mains in Metacom Avenue, from Robin Drive to Gooding Avenue, and from Tupelo Street to Fatima Drive. The work on Metacom Avenue will take approximately four months to complete. Alternating lanes of traffic will be allowed between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m.  At all other times, two lanes of traffic will be maintained.

• Contract 2: Awarded to JML Excavation with a project budget of $400,000. A new water main will connect an existing main at the end of Wilcox Lane to a main in the vicinity of 37 Smith St. This will improve water quality and fire flow available in this area and allow the expansion of the high service area. Work will begin in July and take several weeks to complete.
• Separately, the water authority will construct a new pump station adjacent to its Hope Street tank designed to improve pressure in areas along the west side of town. This project will be bid soon, with construction to begin in late summer. The anticipated cost is $2,000,000 and will most likely continue through the winter.

In general, work hours will be 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., Monday to Friday. There will be no work on weekends or holidays, and all work will begin after the 4^th of July.

At the completion of all three contracts, BCWA will notify affected customers prior to making the transfer to the high service area. This is expected in the spring of 2022. As a result of the higher pressures, BCWA customers who have installed booster pump systems in their homes may be able to discontinue their use. Recently, BCWA worked with a manufacturing company in the Broadcommon industrial park who was able to reduce the scope of their fire suppression system based on the proposed improvements in the water distribution system.

BCWA plans to complete additional improvements to further expand the high service area in coming years. This will include the installation of additional new high service mains and other connections throughout town.