The MDC is Missing Water–a Lot of It.
A message sent on Saturday, January 20th explaining the inexplicable increase of 4 million gallons a day in production of water.
Dear Commissioners and Citizen Members,
In an effort to keep you informed, I would like to advise you of an ongoing investigation into an approximately 4mgd increase in water production at the West Hartford Water Treatment Facility. Potential causes for this increase include one or several water main leaks in the distribution system that are not directly affecting customers at this time. Sources of the leaks can include main pipe leaks currently undetected; private property leaks on domestic and/or fire services; customer-side pipe breaks in vacant buildings or new development sites with water service but no customers yet; and/or a new development that has begun using water and has not been metered yet, among others.
In order to determine why this increase has occurred, Operations, Facilities and Engineering staff members, under the direction of the CEO, have engaged in a coordinated effort to investigate numerous potential causes for this increase in production. Recent extreme weather conditions have contributed to the challenge in locating the source of this increase. We have experienced a record number of water main breaks in the last month, and even with the recent brief warm-ups, the pace has not slowed down. It is also important to note that the extremely efficient design of our distribution system includes an intricate interconnection of valves, pipes and tanks providing a redundancy that allows the system to compensate for water losses or drops in pressure – as it was designed to do – effectively helping to mask a potential leak somewhere in the system.
Our efforts to date have included reviews of hourly monitoring of system production and distribution water levels and pressures; physical inspection of areas where water mains abut or cross water courses (where a leak might not be readily visible); systematic shut down of various pipes in the 1500 miles of distribution system that, based on how the system compensates, might lead us to a potential break area, and also allows us to isolate and exclude areas as contributing to the leak; correlation (a method of measuring the location of a leak in a water main with specialized listening equipment) of sections of pipe that might sustain a leak that would not be readily noticeable to customers; a review of recent metered (billed) consumption to look for any significant increases; inspection and meter reading of vacant properties to determine if there is an internal leak and if so, subsequent shut off of the water supply to the property; and twice daily coordination meetings to review results of the investigation and determine next steps.
Rest assured we have “all hands on deck” for this investigation, and I could not be more proud the staff who has worked tirelessly during duty and non-duty hours alike to examine every avenue to find the source of this increased production and bring this issue to a close. As we continue to work through this process I will keep you informed, and provide a full report at the February Board meeting.
Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions.
Thank you,
Bill DiBella