Old Lyme — The Connecticut Water Company is bringing new water lines to several beach communities this year, including Sound View, where work began this week.

The company recently completed improvements in White Sand Beach, and is moving on to upgrade Sound View, Old Lyme Shores and Wildwood. The work consists of installing full-depth water main lines to replace seasonal shallow-depth lines that are, in some cases, more than 90 years old.

The improvements will allow for consistent, year-round water supply to hundreds of homes — many of which only receive water seasonally, Daniel Lesnieski, infrastructure rehabilitation manager for Connecticut Water, said by phone last week.

This project also will help conserve water by replacing old pipe with newer ductile iron pipe that is less likely to leak, he said.

The projects, outlined as part of Connecticut Water’s recent merger agreement with San Jose Water, will fund the new pipes and construction through the company’s Water Infrastructure and Conservation Adjustment program, which places a small surcharge on customers' water bills to pay for water projects throughout the state. Existing customers will not see changes to their bills, said Dan Meaney, director of public affairs and corporate communications for Connecticut Water.

Those already receiving water from Connecticut Water in Sound View and other beach neighborhoods won’t be charged to hook up to the new lines. However, prospective new customers face a bill of about $1,500 to $2,000 to run a line from their home to the main. Seasonal water customers intending to directly hook up to the new full-depth pipes must also receive approval from the Department of Public Health to do so.

“In the end, what we will have is that everyone will be tied to a new or existing full-depth water main and all the seasonal mains will go away,” Lesnieski said.

In Sound View, Connecticut Water began this week laying down more than 5,000 feet of new 8-inch water mains along the upper portions of Swan and Portland avenues, and on the extensions of Portland, Hartford and Swan avenues north of Route 156, as well as North Lane. Construction will continue until May 22, take a break over summer and begin again Sept. 7.

The Old Lyme Shores project will begin March 23. Streets impacted there include Billow Road, Brightwater Road, Bellaire Road, Saltaire Drive, Sea Spray Lane, and North Lane. The work is expected to be completed by the end of this year, Meaney said.

A separate project to replace about 3,400 feet of nearly 40-year-old water main in the Wildwood neighborhood just west of Rocky Neck State Park also began last week. Construction will occur on Wildwood Drive, Oak Ridge Drive and Fox Chase Lane and is expected to be completed by the end of June.

Though not related, these projects come as several beach neighborhoods, including Miami Beach Association, Old Lyme Shores Beach Association and Old Colony Beach Association — all chartered beach neighborhoods considered separate municipalities from the town — and the town in Sound View, have been planning sewer projects after the state mandated upgrades to resolve groundwater pollution. Those projects tentatively are scheduled to begin later this year.

The beach associations and town have been coordinating with Connecticut Water officials to organize how pipes from the sewer project might underlay or avoid water pipes, Lesnieski said.

“They are going to have to work around us in certain areas, because in a lot of cases, (the sewer lines) are deeper than the water main,” he said. “But we did coordinate the design with the town consultants on that. We are staying on one side of the road and they are planning to lay down pipes on the other side of the road.”

The water line projects also are being designed so as to not drastically disturb sidewalk renovations on Hartford Avenue completed in 2018, Lesnieski said.

First Selectman Tim Griswold said the water upgrades are being seen as a positive improvement for those who live in the affected beach neighborhoods. “There is no sensitivity about getting the water upgrade. There isn’t going to be any opposition to that,” he said. “I think most residents are happy about the water situation, especially considering that they don’t have to pay for the piping and all.”

He added that he did not have concerns about a significant number of residents potentially converting summer homes into year-round homes after both water and sewer upgrades are completed.

“I don’t think it’s a big issue," Griswold said. "When we look back at Point O' Woods (whose sewer project was completed in 2008), some residents were saying, ‘Oh my god, you have 425 residents who will become year-round residents and we are going to see a huge population and lots of children, etc.' Well, it really hasn’t happened."

"Yes, a few people have upgraded their houses and so forth but the school population did not increase at all. So, I think here, again, a lot of these properties have been owned by generations of the same occupants and will want to keep them as summer places. Every year that goes by, the homes become more valuable and the taxes are more, so it becomes more difficult to consider it a second home."

m.biekert@theday.com