Crews temporarily fix leak in 30-inch pipe

Published 1:55 pm Tuesday, March 3, 2026

PORT TOWNSEND — A recent break in the city of Port Townsend’s Olympic Gravity Water System has been temporarily repaired.

The approximately 8-inch crack, as is common with the 1946 transmission line, was caused by a failed longitudinal weld between two sections of the 30-inch diameter section of pipe, said Tyler Johnson, a city project manager, in a presentation to the Port Townsend City Council on Monday.

A city water crew affixed a repair band over the failed weld with the help of contractors.

“The manufacturer of these repair bands say these are temporary, just to give you time to come up with a better solution,” Johnson said. “Our hope is, if nothing changes, that we can make it till November, during the next annual down for the (Port Townsend Paper Corporation) mill and shut it down, drain it and have it welded.”

In the meantime, the city plans to monitor the site daily, he said.

The repair, a coordinated effort between the city crew and contractors from Seton Construction, started at 8 p.m. Friday and was completed at 10 p.m.

The crew would have preferred to do the work in the daylight, but leaving the pipe could leave the leak growing, just from the pressure of the water, Johnson said.

Port Townsend Public Works Director Steve King requested a declaration of emergency to address the potentially impactful situation, and City Manager John Mauro approved it.

“That’s pretty common to do with these larger breaks,” Johnson said. “It gives us a lot of flexibility on hiring contractors without bidding, so we can get in there immediately to do work, if need be.”

The permanent repair, hoped for this fall, would go out to bid and would not be a part of the emergency declaration, Johnson said.

Last week’s failure was reported on Friday by a resident who lives in the 200 block of Aerie Lane. Last year there was a break — also caused by a failed longitudinal weld — at their neighbor’s house, Johnson said.

The reporting party found the source of this year’s leak upon investigation, Johnson said.

The pipe, which serves the city as well as the Port Townsend Paper Corporation, couldn’t be left after the leak was discovered.

“It’s hard to tell just by looking at the pipe, seeing a little water coming out, how bad it is,” Johnson said.

The city hired contractors from Seton Construction as the city equipment trailer, used to haul the city’s excavator, was out of service, and the location of the leak benefited from a larger excavator, according to city documents.

“The terrain was really challenging,” Johnson said. “The larger size excavator that Seton could bring made it a lot easier to uncover the pipe.”

Seton sent an excavator operator and a pipe laborer.

The cost of the repair, according to an expenditure line in the city council agenda, was $60,000, to be appropriated from the water sewer fund.

All of the work nearest the pipe required hand digging, Johnson noted.

During the excavation process, the crews paid close attention to the size of the crack. If the crack expanded significantly, as happened last year, the impact can be more consequential, Johnson said.

“(One of the leaks last year) opened up,” he said. “When that happens, you’re getting ready to turn off the water and City Lake and shut down the mill.”

The city tries to avoid shutting down water to the mill on short notice, as part of their water supply agreement.

“It’s really hard on them financially,” Johnson said.

“This goes to show how useful our funding model now is,” council member David Faber said, noting that no such model existed for 50 years. “We’re at least hopefully building towards a more substantial fix.”

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Reporter Elijah Sussman can be reached by email at elijah.sussman@peninsuladailynews.com.