Revitalizing Belt's Aging Water System

Belt became a town in 1885. It was founded by John Castner. The original Belt water system was built in 1909 and has been modified and fixed over the past few years. Over the past few years, there have been many failures with the outdated system. The water line had to be stopped to fix these problems.

The town’s engineering consultant is Great West Engineering, which has been working with the city for several years, trying to get grants to dig up all of the old pipes and lay down a new system. Great West hopes that over the next few years, they will be able to get more phases of the project.

The problem with the water lines is that the city of Belt loses about 47 percent of its water in the water lines due to holes and leaks. These leaks can also be a problem for backflow. Without the proper amount of water being dispersed over the city of Belt, things like fire hydrants won’t work at the level they are needed. Several pipes have a known problem of freezing in the winter because of how old they are. That requires residents to run their faucets during winter when below-freezing temperatures threaten damage to the old pipes.

The projects will be focused around 5th St., Castner St., 2nd Ave So., and Church St., but may include more areas later on if there is enough funding for other projects. When the project starts in Belt, the main water line and other water lines will be temporarily disrupted but will be fixed soon. Along with that, there will be some impacts on traffic flow and possible redirections to alternate roads. Great West’s primary goal for the project is to reduce the amount of water that is wasted from these pipes, bury the shallow pipes that freeze easily deeper so that they aren’t as prone to freezing, replace old lines that are deteriorated, provide a cleaner water system, and make safer emergency fire hydrants.

To make this project happen, it will take a lot of work and money. The cost of this project is a whopping 2.86 million dollars, but they are currently looking for more funds to increase the total to 3.66 to 5.76 million dollars. The town's oldest pipes are over a century old. The first water system was put in back in 1909. The Belt pump houses and wells were put in sometime between 1978 and 1982.

Great West was the company that drew up the design for the project, but JR Civil is the company that will be building the design. The project is set to go into summer next year, but there is a winter shutdown. If funding prevails, the project will go into late summer or even early fall of 2025.

The fantastic-looking new rockwork beneath the viaduct on 5th Street is not a part of the water project. This rockwork was done by public employees in Belt, Aaron Strine and Rick Hertz. The great, artistic yet functional work is a retaining wall that helps clear up the Belt storm drain system.

The water project is a vital part of the city that needs to be replaced. The upgrades to the existing system will improve the infrastructure in Belt, keep the valley in compliance with DEQ standards, and provide conservation for a precious resource.