Lewes BPW: Lessons learned from 2024 water outage

On the morning of Aug. 20, 2024, Lewes residents turned on their faucets, but nothing came out.

A water main deep under the canal near the Savannah Road drawbridge had failed in the early morning hours, leaving the city high and dry.

“It was an infamous day,” said Robin Davis, Lewes Board of Public Works general manager.

BPW workers scrambled and were slowly able to restore water service throughout the day. A boil-water order was issued, but it was rescinded less than a day later after testing showed the water from a backup line was safe to drink.

The next day, a diver was brought in to search for clues as to what caused the failure.

Tom Panetta, BPW president, said scouring from the current in the canal had caused the water main to become unsupported on the bottom. 

“[The diver] was able to walk right under the pipe,” he said. “The cause was an unsupported pipe.”

Panetta said the situation could have been worse.

“We had already started the process to install a new 16-inch crossing. The design work was 95% complete. We had the funding, but not the permits,” Panetta said.

He said BPW worked with the state to expedite the permit process.

The new canal crossing pipe is in the area of the old railroad swing bridge at the end of Schley Avenue.

Work started Oct. 14 on the new crossing, and the new line became operation March 18, according to Davis.

“It was a yeoman’s effort. Our contractors, Teal Construction and Spring Associates, hit a lot of problems, but by the next morning they would have a work-around,” Panetta said. “It was a great effort at all levels of government.”

Davis said Teal is still on site finishing mostly restoration work.

In the wake of the failure, BPW took a deep dive into the lessons learned from the outage.

“We could have pushed harder on the permitting process before the event happened,” Panetta said. 

But, he said the city is better off today then it was one year ago.

“We still have the one pipe that was never repaired. It’s still a backup. There is a relatively new crossing at the north end of Pilottown Road. So, even if we lost one, the new 16-inch line should provide water to the beach with reduced pressure,” Panetta said. 

Even though the canal crossing is underground, there is visible infrastructure from the project.

“We installed a 2-inch tap on Gills Neck Road for future [tree] plantings and possibly a water bottle filling station that the city might want along the [Lewes-Georgetown] trail. It shows our greatly improved relationship with the city,” Panetta said.

BPW has 5-year and 10-year plans to replace the city’s aging water pipes, some of which are 100 years old.

Water lines on American Legion Road were replaced during the canal crossing construction.

Next, they plan to tackle the Burton subdivision.

Residents there have complained about discolored tap water for decades. BPW testing has shown that it is not harmful to drink.

Davis said the Burton project is scheduled to be completed by mid-2028, but the water lines should be up and running before then.

Panetta said BPW goes over its list every year to make sure the agency is correctly prioritizing the oldest and unlined pipes for replacement.

A year after the water outage, Panetta said the system is in good shape for the future.

“The water will be there, safe and drinkable,” he said.