Missouri American spending millions to replace crumbling water lines across St. Louis County
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UNIVERSITY CITY, MO (KMOV) — It’s an overhaul University City residents said they’ve been anxiously awaiting for. Piece by piece Missouri American Water crews are installing a new water line on East Drive.
Pat Devereux said her neighborhood has been dealing with a crumbling water line for years.
“When it happens we’re without water and the neighbor across the street, her basement has flooded at least twice,” said Devereux.
Brian Russell, spokesperson with Missouri American Water, said they’re working to repair thousands of miles of aging infrastructure throughout St. Louis County.
“This county has a problem with old infrastructure,” said Russell.
News 4 first brought you complaints from University City residents earlier this month.
Residents living on McKnight Road said just about every home has dealt with a water line break.
Missouri American lines have to break a certain number of times before they get approved to be replaced.
“The goal is to replace water mains that have aged out of their useful life,” said Russell.
So far Missouri American has set aside $93 million to repair aging lines throughout the county this year.
Only 7% of the repairs needed in University City have been made. This project is costing Missouri American $120,000.
Another $15 million has been allocated to repair lines in Webster Groves, and $3 million is going to repair lines in Florissant.
“We want the water to be there when our customers need it, and if you’re dealing with water main breaks constantly that’s a problem,” Russell said.
Missouri American said they should be completed with the University City project within two weeks.
They said residents who live on McKnight Road will have their line replaced before the end of the year.
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