Electric Utility Operations

Arizona Utilities Warn Customers About Dangers of Digging into Underground Lines

Aug. 14, 2018

Arizona Public Service, Southwest Gas and SRP joined forces to educate the local community on national 811 Day on Aug. 11.

Amy Fischbach

Every nine minutes, Americans put themselves at risk for serious injuries and cause damage to utility infrastructure by digging underground without having underground utility lines properly marked. While underground power lines may be well insulated, they can easily be damaged by a shovel or a pick and create a shock or flash hazard. In turn, it can cause a power outage to local customers and possibly injure the person who is digging.

To warn the public about the dangers of digging into a utility line, Arizona Public Service, Southwest Gas and SRP joined forces to educate the local community on national 811 Day on Aug. 11. Across the state of Arizona, shared utility services such as natural gas, electricity, communications and water lines, run underground. Homeowners, however, may not realize that these services may be buried a few inches below ground when working in the yard.

Looking for Warning Signs
To safeguard themselves during do-it-yourself projects, homeowners can call Arizona 811, which will send utility companies out to the planned dig site to locate and mark the underground lines, pipes and cables. Also, homeowners can spot a natural gas leak by looking for warning signs like a sulfur-like, rotten-egg odor, unusual hissing or roaring from the ground, bubbling water and discolored plants or grass surrounding a pipeline.

Learning the Color Codes
For their public awareness campaign, the three utilities also educated the local community about the uniform color codes of temporary marking of underground utilities:

RED – electric power lines, cables, conduit and lighting cables
ORANGE – telecommunication, alarm or signal lines, cables or conduit
YELLOW – natural gas, oil, steam, petroleum or other gaseous or flammable material
GREEN – sewers and drain lines
BLUE – drinking water, irrigation and slurry lines
PURPLE – reclaimed water
PINK – temporary survey markings, unknown/unidentified facilities
WHITE – proposed excavation limits or routes

About the Author

Amy Fischbach | Amy Fischbach, EUO Contributing Editor

Amy Fischbach is the Field Editor for T&D World magazine and manages the Electric Utility Operations section. She is the host of the Line Life Podcast, which celebrates the grit, courage and inspirational teamwork of the line trade. She also works on the annual Lineworker Supplement and the Vegetation Management Supplement as well as the Lineman Life and Lineman's Rodeo News enewsletters. Amy also covers events such as the Trees & Utilities conference and the International Lineman's Rodeo. She is the past president of the ASBPE Educational Foundation and ASBPE and earned her bachelor's and master's degrees in journalism from Kansas State University. She can be reached at [email protected].