Clearwater Gas System Reminder: Call Before You Dig

CLEARWATER, FL — Clearwater Gas System reminds homeowners and business owners to call 811 before every digging project.

Whether you're a professional excavator or a homeowner, smart digging always requires a call to 811 at least 48 to 72 hours before digging. Clearwater Gas System reminds the public to always know where underground utility lines are buried before you dig. It’s a free call, and it’s the law.

Properly marked underground utilities can help prevent injury and damages to utilities, service disruptions, potential fines and costly repairs.

“Since January 2021, Clearwater Gas System has received more than 9,200 call-before-you-dig requests to locate gas underground lines,” said Brian Langille, assistant gas director. “However, we still receive unintentional hits to our underground infrastructure.”

Clearwater Gas System strongly encourages homeowners and business owners to take the following steps when planning any excavation project:

• Everyone who calls 811 a few days before digging is connected to a local one-call notification center, which takes the caller’s information and shares it with all local utility companies. Always call 811, 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.
• Professional locators will then visit the dig site to mark the approximate location of underground utility lines with spray paint or flags.
• Confirm with your local one call center that all underground utility lines have been marked. Once a site has been accurately marked, it is safe to begin digging around the marked areas.
• Learn what the various colors of paint and flags represent at call811.com/faqs.
• 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 underground utilities have not yet been properly marked.

According to the Common Ground Alliance, underground utility lines are damaged every eight minutes because of failure to call 811 first. The depth of underground 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.

For more information, visit sunshine811.com.

This press release was produced by the City of Clearwater. The views expressed here are the author's own.