The South Central Connecticut Regional Water Authority (RWS) has begun to replace 2,200 feet of water mains along Cosey Beach Avenue as part of its Capital Improvement Program.

This replacement is a routine process for aging pipes, said RWA Director of Public Affairs Kevin Watsey.

“We have a protocol that when certain segments of pipe reach so many breaks that we will routinely replace it,” said Watsey. “We did a very similar project on a different part of Cozy Beach last year, and had hit that threshold, so we replaced it. So it’s just this segment hit that threshold.”

The Cosey Beach Avenue piping to be replaced, which runs from the east part of Coe Avenue to the end of the former road, is a cast iron main that was originally installed in 1972, and it “is not that old when talking about water mains,” said Watsey.

However, “due to saltwater intrusion in the area, the main was corroding at a fast rate causing an increase in main breaks,” he said.

The RWA will be replacing the cast iron main with high-density polyethylene plastic, a material far less susceptible to corrosion due to saltwater intrusion, according to Watsey.

The project is designed to “improve water quality and system reliability, and maintain adequate flows throughout the system,” according to the RWA and a statement from Mayor Joseph Carfora.

Watsey said that “once complete, there will be no significant’ service improvements’ other than not having service disruptions due to leaks and/or breaks,” so “customers won’t see more pressure or anything like that.”

He continued, “By replacing it, folks won’t have to deal with us possibly turning the water off to fix breaks. They won’t have to worry about the traffic disruptions of main breaks.”

RWA expects work to take between 12 to 14 weeks to complete, and will run from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday.

“We waited until the summer season ended to start the project so that traffic issues would be kept to a minimum.

As far as traffic is concerned, “Alternating one way traffic flow will be maintained at all times. We do not anticipate having to completely close the road to traffic,” said Watsey.