By Greg Ellison, Staff Writer

(Nov. 9, 2017) Pocomoke City Manager Bobby Cowger presented a potential solution to decades-old water quality issues during a council meeting on Monday.

The insight stemmed from a recent water leak in front of the Pocomoke City Volunteer Fire Company.

“We had cut out a piece of the existing water pipe that was there,” he said. “This is on Market Street, and it’s leaving and going down into the Heights.”

After installing a foot of plastic piping to replace the removed section, Cowger said crews opened a nearby fire hydrant and let it run for 20 minutes, prior to sampling water quality.

Mayor Bruce Morrison related his less-than-savory experience during the water testing last week.

“I was totally shocked when I put my hand inside a pipe and it came out black,” he said. “It was greasy. The hydrant ran for 35-40 minutes and it never cleared up.”

Engineers contacted by the city had suggested deficiencies at the water plant caused the brownish water residents, particularly in the Heights neighborhood, have complained about for years. However, Cowger said although the 20-year old facility needs repairs, the problem lies elsewhere.

“We’ve spent a lot of money with these engineers, you’re taking half a million to a million dollars, and the water is as bad or worse than it was 20 years ago,” he said. “The water was just like that in 1997 when the plant was brand new.”

Attempting to estimate costs for pipe replacement, Cowger received an ominous quote from an area contractor.

“I got a price to replace 400 feet of pipe … and they wanted $50,000,” he said. “We’ve got 8,000 feet out there in the Heights to do.”

Dismayed but not discouraged, Cowger checked with Pubic Works Superintendent Bill East for a price comparison.

“I had Public Works give me a material list of what … it would take to do 400 feet,” he said. “It was a little over $5,000 for materials.”

Cowger estimated labor costs would be about the same as materials, for a rough estimate of $10,000 for the equivalent 400 feet of piping.

“We need to start replacing these pipes in-house,” he said. “I can do 10 streets for what that one company wanted.”

Councilmember George Tasker said the section of pipe removed from Market Street had an unpleasing and all-too-familiar aroma.

“You can take that pipe and scratch and sniff it, and it smells just like what comes out of my spicket,” he said. “How are you going to get rid of that smell unless you change the pipes?”

With a preponderance of underground metal piping that dates back roughly six decades, Cowger said the solution is self-evident.

“That piping needs to be replaced,” he said. “It’s time that we need to address it whatever we’ve got to do.”

To ascertain the most relevant starting point, Cowger said crews would flush hydrants to pinpoint the most-corroded sections of pipe.

“It looks like Market Street may be the place to start,” he said. “I think we can easily do five to 10 streets a year.”

Within a few weeks Cowger anticipates beginning work on the first street identified as having problematic piping.

“I grew up in the Heights,” he said. “They’ve had water problems for 30 years or more out there.”

Cowger said previous city leadership neglected to dig deeply enough into the issue.

“It should have been a priority 15-20 years ago,” he said. “I’m ready to tackle it.”