Coeur d’Alene Wastewater Department officials will ask the City Council to declare an emergency in an effort to replace portions of a hot water loop system at the wastewater treatment plant off Hubbard Avenue.

The declaration, which Wastewater’s Capital Program Manager Mike Becker will formally request during Tuesday night’s Council meeting, comes after a pair of July investigations found underground pipes in the plant’s hot water loop system are in disrepair and need immediate attention.

Hot water loop systems are primarily used in treatment plants to move sludge efficiently and consistently through the treatment process. The pipe system regularly recirculates water that reaches temperatures nearing 160 degrees.

To maximize resources, Coeur d’Alene’s loop system also provides heat for the plant’s collection shop, administration building and lab, which is the primary reason for Tuesday’s request to declare an emergency.

Over the summer, officials discovered a noteworthy increase in the loop’s water demand, which led Wastewater staff to inspect the pipes, where they found multiple leaks. HDR Engineering was hired to conduct an independent investigation. The company concluded the loop system was falling victim to “under insulation corrosion” and needs to be partially replaced.

“Last summer, [Wastewater Department] staff became aware of a significant increase in water demand within the hot water loop system and discovered several leaks in the steel pipes to and from the collection shop and administration building,” Becker offered in his written report to Council. “... After [the HDR Engineering report], additional leaks were detected in the underground portion of the hot water loop system, suggesting that corrosion is likely occurring in other locations. Based on this information, it was determined that the existing hot water loop system is unsalvageable.”

If approved, crews will lay two new insulated pipes — this time made of polypropylene, a type of plastic — adjacent to the existing loop system.

City officials reached out to Big Sky Idaho, a local contractor already working with Wastewater on another project, for a quote. The company estimated the costs to run between $225,000 and $250,000, according to Becker’s report. City Administrator Troy Tymesen said the reason the City approached Big Sky Idaho was out of expedience as much as convenience.

“I think the reason why we went to them was because they could get after it quickly,” Tymesen said. “Because of our timeframe, the reason was to find out what the costs would be and what the job would entail.”

State-dictated procedures require any public works project exceeding $200,000 to accept bids, a process that could last up to two months. Construction could then potentially run into December, and Old Man Winter, Tymesen added, doesn’t care about Idaho Code.

“We don’t have many other options to do this,” he said. “We set up this system in no small part to heat those [collection, administration and lab] buildings. We’re re-using those resources to keep those buildings warm during the winter. It was really a great way our guys set this system up: to re-use those resources and make the most of that heat. But now, winter’s coming, and we have to keep those buildings operational and warm enough to work in.”

An emergency declaration would circumvent the bidding process and empower the utility department to immediately hire a contractor already under contract. The Wastewater Department’s capital replacement fund would finance the project, assuming Council approves the department’s request.

“The real challenge is,” Tymesen said of the underground pipes, “we don’t know exactly all the places where they’re deteriorating. When we get in there and pressure-test, we might find even more leaks.”