Residents of Salt Lake County's unincorporated Millcreek area have begun receiving notices that they are going to be paying for the bulk of an $18 million pipeline repair project — meaning the average household will owe the county $1,700.

The pipeline repairs are to correct a 60-year-old problem that the county says has left residents vulnerable in the case of fire. The problem area covers a large chunk of the county's east side — though some of that area is incorporated in Salt Lake City, and the city residents there will not have to pay.

Starting in the 1940s, a haphazard series of 4-inch water lines was installed in the Millcreek area, covering a lot of the area from 700 East to 2700 East and from 2700 South to 3900 South. The result has been low water pressure for fire hydrants, which are spread about 800 feet to 1,000 feet apart rather than the recommended 500 feet.

The lines often dead-end and are not interconnected in a grid or looping system, so a break at one spot could leave everyone downstream unprotected against fires.

In the summer, the County Council voted to create a special-improvement district (SID) as a way to tackle the problem all at once, with plans to put in a 20-mile looping series of 8- and 12-inch water mains and add about 350 new hydrants. As part of the agreement, Salt Lake City will take over responsibility for the pipes, which are currently the property of homeowners who don't often know they own the pipes until one breaks and they have to pay to fix it.

Scott Baird, manager of the project for Salt Lake County Public Works, said the mess was created by historical irrigation companies that served the area. They all created their own network of pipes and hydrants, buying water from Salt Lake City's water company but maintaining ownership of the pipes and responsibility for their maintenance.

The city taking over control "is a huge savings to the residents who are currently responsible for the pipe," Baird said.

But the SID was not so well received by residents. At a public hearing in June, more than 100 residents turned out, most of them voicing opposition to the plan. Why, they asked, should residents be asked to fork out so much money to fix a problem that should have been solved decades ago? And why not spread the cost evenly among all unincorporated county residents, as countywide fees often go toward road repairs and other things in places like Kearns and Magna?

But county officials say Kearns, Magna and Copperton residents have for years been paying higher water rates than Millcreek residents because those areas are part of water service districts.