Pasadena Water and Power is scheduled to begin replacing the water main on Mentor Avenue between San Pasqual Street and Del Mar Boulevard on Oct. 26 and will start work on Villa Street from Hill Avenue to Palo Verde Avenue in November, according to the City of Pasadena.
The Villa Street and West Colorado Boulevard project will replace about 4,704 feet of water main installed roughly 100 years ago with new 12-inch ductile pipe, moving to West Colorado Boulevard between Patrician Way and Melrose Avenue in 2027 once Villa Street work is complete, according to the city. The first phase of the Mentor work is scheduled to run through January 2027, with a pause at the end of the year for the citywide construction moratorium. Work on both streets is scheduled weekdays from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m.; on Mentor Avenue, at least one lane will remain open, driveways will stay accessible and any water service interruptions will be noticed in advance.
“Continued investment in our water infrastructure is important to reliable, high-quality water service,” General Manager David Reyes said in August.
Nationally, the American Society of Civil Engineers gave drinking water infrastructure a C- in its 2025 Report Card and estimated about 240,000 water main breaks a year, with average pipe life expectancy just over 78 years as of 2023. Nearly 20% of installed U.S. water mains, a little more than 450,000 miles of pipe, were reported to have exceeded their useful lives and are awaiting replacement, and pipes laid after World War II have an average lifespan of 75 to 100 years, according to the society, which found about 70% of U.S. water utilities have a pipe replacement program. It reported that ductile iron and PVC have replaced breakage-prone cast iron and asbestos cement pipe as the most common materials, and said “addressing aging or failing infrastructure is showing signs of progress.”
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates the nation’s drinking water systems need $625 billion over 20 years, including $422.9 billion for distribution and transmission lines.
On Raymond Avenue between Maple Street and the northern city limits, the utility is installing new underground infrastructure so that existing overhead utility lines can be relocated underground. Since Oct. 5, the construction area has been at Claremont Street east of Raymond Avenue, with work scheduled from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Raymond and Claremont streets will be partially closed, with one day of full closure, and work is anticipated to shift to Raymond Avenue and Washington Boulevard in mid-October, according to the city. The city had earlier scheduled the Washington Boulevard work for Sept. 14, then Sept. 21, citing rain and worsening soil conditions.
The Raymond district covers 2.02 miles with a $43.8 million budget, according to a January utility presentation, and a contract of up to $21,403,255 with Doty Bros. Equipment Company was approved by the City Council on Nov. 17, 2025.
Raymond project information is available at (626) 744-4005 or
https://pwp.cityofpasadena.
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