Rehoboth moving forward with Tidewater connection

In an effort to improve system resilience, Rehoboth Beach commissioners approved the hiring of George & Lynch to install a water connection with Tidewater Utilities. The connection will cost about $200,000 and be located at the city’s Well 8 site off Warrington Road.

Unprecedented use of the city’s water system last summer during Fourth of July weekend led to the city implementing a conservation notice. Public Works Director Henry Matlosz first presented the proposal during a commissioner workshop in January. It was a shot across the bow, he said, of last year’s issue.

Headquartered in Dover, Tidewater Utilities, a subsidiary of Middlesex Water Company, provides water services to about 60,000 retail customers in New Castle, Kent and Sussex counties.

Beacon Engineering senior engineer Bob Palmer, a city consultant, went into further detail. He said over the last few years, the city has seen a significant increase in the use of the water system. It is not seeing the same increase in growth, because the water-use increase is due in large part to increased use of irrigation systems.

Last summer, it all went awry, said Palmer. The city’s two water towers and the one in Dewey lost about one-third of the combined water stored over the course of those three days, he said.

This is a backup, a resilience, said Palmer. There are no plans to use it if the city doesn’t need it, he said.

The original estimate came in at $150,000, with about half of that expected to have been spent last year, but delays in design and negotiations have pushed all the construction to this year, said Matlosz. The city has only budgeted $80,000 in the current fiscal year for the job, he said.

“The goal is to get this set up and then never have to use it,” said Matlosz, adding that he still has a goal to have the interconnection done in advance of this summer’s Fourth of July weekend.

To account for the rise in costs, Matlosz said the city could hold off on the purchase of a new trailer and reduce the number of water meters it replaces as part of the city’s ongoing water meter replacement program.

The reason for the increase in cost from original projections is a separation of assets between the city and Tidewater, said Palmer. A decision was made to remove the pressure-reducing valve from the meter vault into the city’s Well 8 building, which significantly increased the amount of water main connecting the system and some modifications of piping in the building to house the valve, he said, adding the new connection will support 350 to 1,000 gallons per minute.

Matlosz also provided an update on a new Well 6 for the city’s system.

Well 6 used to be located in the Breezewood community off Old Landing Road, but it’s been out of service since 2017 due to poor taste related to high iron content. The city was going to install a new well near Well 8 in 2024, but it was too close to an infiltration trench at the Beebe Healthcare complex and an infiltration trench in the Arbor-Lyn development.

Matlosz said the city has identified another possible location for Well 6 on private property near Well 8, but the negotiations are ongoing. The city is looking to get Well 6 back online sometime in 2026, but not likely before next summer, he said.