Posted on 12/02/2017 6:53:00 AM PST by BusterDog
GALVESTON, Texas (AP) — Galveston city workers have discovered a leak in a nearby water line that had been pouring an average of 3 million gallons of water into the city’s storm sewer system each day for years.
The Galveston County Daily News reports that city workers found the leak Nov. 18 while trying to set up new back-flow prevention devices that could potentially delay the effects of sea level rise.
(Excerpt) Read more at apnews.com ...
>>You would think they would calculate the amount of water they produce on a daily basis versus the amount of water they bill. If that amount is significantly different a water audit would be instituted.
They do. Is it a thousand 3kgal/day leaks and each would cost several $100k to fix? If it was a giant 3MGD leak, you would expect to see a collapsed street or a geyser.
Storm sewer output is not monitored for flow, so no one would notice a water main that is draining into a storm sewer.
Now, a top-tier municipal utility might have the extra telemetry to help find these problems, or the extra manpower to seek out the unknown pipe that was decommissioned a century ago. But, this looks like a pretty small operation, and in my experience, private water companies are cut more to the bone with auto-dialers and red flashing lights (with a sign that actually says “If this light is flashing, please call the water company”) replacing real SCADA.
>>Seems like a dye test on the storm drain might have picked it up.
How do you get the dye to flow upstream? Or do you plan to contaminate the water supply with dye markers?
We have a non-toxic dye. How do you account for running water in a storm drain if there hasn’t been recent rain? This should have been caught when routine cleaning of the manhole/ catch basin was performed.
Or is this an instance of imcompetence?
>>This should have been caught when routine cleaning of the manhole/ catch basin was performed.
How often do you do your routine cleaning/inspection of manholes when no blockage is indicated?
5 to 10 a day. Looking for water infiltration or illegal discharge.
We also clean to clear debris and oil residue. Check the grates and look for settling
>>5 to 10 a day. Looking for water infiltration or illegal discharge.
>>We also clean to clear debris and oil residue. Check the grates and look for settling
Private company or government utility?
Ain’t that the truth?
Local government. Actually the storm water deptartment is very proactive in cleaning and inspection. They try and hit every catch basin 4 times a year
>>Local government. Actually the storm water deptartment is very proactive in cleaning and inspection. They try and hit every catch basin 4 times a year
You may have come in on this discussion late. Everyone is jumping on me for saying that a private company will not spend the money to be proactive in the operation of a utility. You and I are on the same page. My municipal utility is very proactive and customer-focused too, but the private utilities we bought out were the opposite.
Sometimes we would go out at night and hookup listening devices to the valve to hear if we had leaks. Occasionally I did payoff
Six cents per ten gallons is probably the best way for a layman to understand...and that is worst case. In other words quite affordable, especially if one utilizes a grey water system.
“why the increase ? to pay for the fix ?”
My company had been paying for the leaked water.
ah...thanks.
A better question is who and why would a city allow a contractor to install a water main into a sewer?
>>A better question is who and why would a city allow a contractor to install a water main into a sewer?
It said that the pipe had been decommissioned for decades.
It’s pretty clear that is not not the case.
>>It’s pretty clear that is not not the case.
It was decommissioned long ago, but the method of decommissioning it must have failed. Maybe they just closed a valve 50years ago and paved over it decades later. That is more common than you think.
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