When Royal City, Washington needed to replace its seriously aging water system pipes, RCAC provided a flexible $100,000 interim loan to finance the improvements.

Royal City is in Grant County, Washington and has a population of about 1,800. The median household income for Royal City was $28,529 as of the 2000 Census.

A portion of this small community’s water system consists of steel and PVC pipe. The steel pipe is known as “invasion pipe,” a 1/16” thin wall steel pipe covered with a coal tar coating. Invasion pipe was an outgrowth of the British Petroleum Industry’s attempt to supply fuel and oil to its troops during World War II (WWII). Americans first used it to pump fuel from ships to temporary docks and then to supply depots closer to the fighting in the Pacific arena during WWII. After the war, there was a surplus and it was commonly used to transport everything from gas, oil, water and sewage to temporary facilities. It was used because it was light, easy to handle and cheap, but was never intended for permanent infrastructure.

In Royal City, invasion pipe was used extensively, has been in the ground for 50 to 60 years, and repairs were needed often.

The cost of issuing bonds or seeking government funding is prohibitive for a project of this size and the small community did not have adequate reserves. RCAC’s loan enabled the community to replace the old failing pipe and improve the system for years of service into the future.