This April marks the 16th annual National Safe Digging Month, reminding Loudoun Water customers to always call 811 within 48 hours beginning the next business day before any digging project. Loudoun Water takes pride in having in-house Utility Protection technicians to respond to all VA 811 tickets within Loudoun County. Whether planting a tree or installing a mailbox, building a garage or constructing a new building, installing a swimming pool or invisible fence, utilize the VA 811 system to avoid damaging underground utility lines.
As part of National Safe Digging Month, Loudoun Water encourages homeowners to take the following steps when planning a digging project this spring:
- Always call 811 a few days before digging, regardless of the depth or familiarity with the property.
- Plan ahead. Call on Monday or Tuesday for work planned for an upcoming weekend, providing ample time for the approximate location of lines to be marked.
- Confirm that all lines have been marked.
- Consider moving the location of your project if it is near utility line markings.
- If a contractor has been hired, confirm that a call to 811 has been made. Don’t allow work to begin if the lines aren’t marked.
- Visit www.VA811.com for complete info.
An underground utility line is damaged once every nine minutes nationwide because someone decided to dig without first calling 811.
When calling 811, homeowners and contractors are connected to VA 811, the local one call center, which notifies the appropriate utility companies of their intent to dig. Professional locators are then sent to the requested digging site to mark the approximate locations of underground lines with flags, paint or both. Every nine minutes an underground utility line is damaged because someone decided to dig without first calling 811.
Striking a single line can cause injury, repair costs, fines and inconvenient outages. Every digging project, no matter how large or small, warrants a call to 811. Installing a mailbox, building a deck and planting a tree or garden are all examples of digging projects that should only begin a few days after a call to 811.
The depth of utility lines can vary for a number of reasons, such as erosion, previous digging projects and uneven surfaces. Utility lines need to be properly marked because even when digging only a few inches, the risk of striking an underground utility line still exists.