Central Lines Services
Central Lines Services oversees all maintenance functions of the water distribution and sewer collection systems.
Water Distribution System
Construction of the City of Ocala's water distribution system started in 1885 with cast iron mains installed in the downtown and adjacent areas. Some of these original mains are still in use today. Cast iron pipe was exclusively used until the 1970's. During the 70's cast iron was phased out and replaced with a more durable and stronger ductile iron which is still used today along with a much more durable PVC pipe.
Service lines were originally made of galvanized steel with lead "gooseneck" connections to the mains. In 1981, a polyethylene pipe replaced the galvanized pipe as the material of choice. After about five years in service, it became apparent that there was a problem with deterioration of the polyethylene pipe and a newer polybutylene was placed into use. The polybutylene remained as the standard service pipe until 1993 when it was no longer being manufactured. At this point in time, the City started using a newer high grade polyethylene pipe with a greater wall thickness.
In 1987, computers were put into use for generating and tracking all work-orders performed by water distribution personnel. In 1989, the water meter shop followed this model and began using the same computer system for all of its work-orders. Today, three different computer programs are used by a staff of 20 to track an average of 16,900 work orders per year.
Sewer Collection System
The City of Ocala's original gravity sewers were installed in 1915, mainly in the downtown area. A few original brick manholes remain from that period. These manholes are easily identified by the date cast into the cover. Pre-cast concrete manholes were introduced in 1960. Original sewer pipe was made of vertrified clay and used until 1985 when PVC became the pipe of choice. Earliest excavation methods used a mule-drawn plow for laying pipe. Mechanical digging equipment was not used until 1948.
The city's first lift stations came about in 1949 when our two original primary treatment plants were converted to lift stations and used to pump sewage to the new Sewage Treatment Plant #1.
Due to the age of our underground infrastructure, some of which is close to 100-years old, the department is undertaking a major long term replacement or rehabilitation (R&R) program focusing on the oldest sections of water and sewer lines first and so on until the the entire system has been evaluated and all problems areas replaced or renewed. This ensures the long term integrity of the system, protects the environment and our water supply as well as preventing major disruptions of services due to underground system failures.
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