SMOKE TESTING SMOKING ON THE JOB
A LITTLE HISTORY ORIGINALLY INSTALLED IN 1958-1959 ORIGINAL DESIGN CAPACITY OF 2500 PEOPLE 500 GPM PUMPING CAPACITY ABOUT 18 ACRES OF PONDS POPULATION OF 2000 IN 1960
CURRENT SYSTEM 1800 GPM PUMPING CAPACITY NEARLY 30 ACRES OF PONDS 250 GPM STAND-BY GAS POWERED PUMP CURRENT POPULATION IS 1,129
NORMAL FLOWS NORMAL FLOW IS ABOUT 60 GALLONS A DAY PER PERSON LAST MONTH WE PROCESSED 1.8 MILLION GALLONS WHICH IS ABOUT 55 GPD/PERSON THERE WAS NO RAIN LAST MONTH AND WATER TABLES ARE LOW
MARCH MADNESS 2010 26 MILLION GALLONS DURING MARCH OF THIS YEAR 2.5 MILLION GALLONS ON MARCH 27 TH 2200 GALLONS PER PERSON THAT DAY OR A NORMAL DAILY FLOW FOR A TOWN OF 41,000 PEOPLE WELL BEYOND DESIGN CAPACITY PONDS OVERFLOWED INTO WOLF CREEK
SO WHAT, WHO CARES? RESIDENTS ON HOT SPRINGS ROAD CARE, SOME ARE UNABLE TO USE FACILITIES THEY RE PAYING FOR AND WASTE WATER HAS OVERFLOWED INTO THIER HOUSES. PEOPLE DOWNSTREAM CARE, RAW SEWAGE FLOWED IN TO THEIR SWIMMING HOLES, WHERE THEIR PETS AND CHILDREN PLAY. IN SOME CASES, INTO THEIR DRINKING WATER SOURCE.
SO WHAT, WHO CARES? THE STATE CARES, ITS THEIR JOB TO PROTECT THE STATES WATER, THEY DO THIS BY ISSUING VIOLATIONS THAT USUALLY INCLUDE FINES. WE HAVE BEEN ISSUED 8 NOTICES OF VIOLATION SINCE 1993 AND 3-4 PREVIOUS TO THAT. WE HAVE HAD THREE VIOLATIONS IN THE LAST YEAR.
SO WHAT, WHO CARES? WE SHOULD CARE, WE HAVE BEEN DIRECTLY RESPONSIBLE FOR POLLUTING WOLF CREEK UTILITY COSTS OF PUMPING ALL THE EXTRA WATER ADDITIONAL WEAR ON EQUIPMENT COSTS MONEY SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCES OUR ABILITY TO FUNCTION DURING POWER OUTAGES
INFLOW AND INFILTRATION INFILTRATION- Groundwater entering the collection system through defective pipe. Relatively constant flow rate. INFLOW- Surface water entering the collection system as a result of rainwater, snow melt etc. Flow rate varies with runoff. WE HAVE BOTH
THIS IS NOT NEW NEWS IN 1979 THE STATE IDENTIFIED I&I AS THE ROOT CAUSE OF A OVERFLOW AND SUBSEQUENT VIOLATION IN 1989 THE STATE ORDERED THE DISTRICT TO CONDUCT CAMERA INSPECTIONS AND SMOKE TESTING OF THE SYSTEM AFTER ANOTHER FAILURE THESE INSPECTIONS WERE CONDUCTED IN AN ISOLATED AREA AND WERE COMPLETED IN 1993 VERY FEW REPAIRS WERE MADE AND THE MAJORITY OF THE INFLOW WAS ATTRIBUTED TO A SINGLE OPEN CLEANOUT DISCOVERED IN A LOW LYING AREA
MORE RECENT HISTORY AFTER 1993 RECORDED FLOWS WERE CLOSER TO NORMAL UNTIL LATE 2001 WHEN THEY SUDDENLY TRIPLED IN JANUARY 2006, AN INFILTRATION INSPECTION WAS CONDUCTED AND NEARLY 150 GPM OF INFILTRATION FLOWS WERE IDENTIFIED THAT AMOUNTS TO 216,000 GALLONS A DAY WHEN WATER TABLES ARE HIGH, NOT MUCH COMPARED TO THE 2,500,000 GALLONS MENTIONED EARLIER STILL NEEDS TO BE ADDRESSED, 4 MILLION GALLONS A MONTH IS NEEDLESSLY PROCESSED
2009 I&I STUDY IN MARCH 2009 WE INSPECTED THE LINES WITH A VIDEO CAMERA, THE FINDINGS AGREED WITH THE 2006 STUDY. MOST OF THE INFILTRATION WAS ORIGINATING FROM LATERALS WE CONDUCTED A STUDY COMPARING METERED WATER USEAGE WITH SEWER FLOWS AND RAINFALL
13-Nov 14-Nov 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 1-Dec 2-Dec 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 2009 I&I STUDY 0.18 BASELINE FLOWS 0.16 0.14 0.12 0.1 0.08 0.06 WATER USEAGE-MG SEWAGE PUMPED-MG RAINFALL-INCHES 0.04 0.02 0
2009 I&I STUDY 3 February 2009 2.5 2 1.5 rain fall inches gallons pumped MG water usage MG 1 0.5 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28
2009 I&I STUDY 3 Storm February March 2009 2.5 2 1.5 rain fall inches gallons pumped mg water usage MG 1 0.5 0 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 1 2 3 4 5 6
IN THE NUMBERS OUR I&I AMOUNTS TO 1000% 300% 500% IS TYPICAL HIGH NUMBERS WE KNOW WHERE SOME OF THE INFILTRATIONS ARE WE HAD NO WAY TO LOCATE THE INFLOWS CALIFORNIA RURAL WATER ASSOCIATION PROVIDED A SMOKE TESTER TO LOCATE THE INFLOWS
THE PROCESS THE SMOKER BLOWS SMOKE INTO A MANHOLE THE SMOKE WILL EMIT FROM ANY OPENING IN THE SEWER LINES WATER FILLED P-TRAPS KEEP THE SMOKE, AND DANGEROUS SEWER GASES, FROM ENTERING HOMES INSPECT EVERY SEWER LINE
WHAT WE FOUND
TOTALS 138 POINTS ON INTRUSION 33 OPEN CLEAN-OUTS ON PRIVATE PROPERTY ONE MANHOLE WITH HOLE CUT IN IT 78 MANHOLES ON OLD SYSTEM 27 DISTRICT CLEAN-OUTS ON OLD SYSTEM
NOW WHAT? NOTIFY ALL PROPERTY OWNERS OF THE ISSUES ON THEIR PROPERTY TAKE STEPS TO MITIGATE ALL INFLOWS IN DISTRICT ROD HOLES AND MANHOLES REPAIR KNOW INFILTRATION POINTS