Encinitas, CA—Olivenhain Municipal Water District will begin construction to replace aging water infrastructure in El Camino Real the week of March 23. To reduce traffic impacts, all work will take place at night, between 8:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m., Monday through Thursday.
The Trump administration has put one of the largest new water projects on the Colorado River on the fast track, raising concerns among environmentalists.
Utah first proposed building a 140-mile pipeline from Lake Powell on the Utah-Arizona border more than a decade ago. The plan, however, was waylaid by environmental and other reviews during the Obama administration.
But last fall, the Utah Division of Water Resources updated the proposal, removing a hydropower plant and cutting $100 million from its price tag.
The move also changed which federal agency had jurisdiction over it — from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to the Bureau of Reclamation.
The Fallbrook Public Utility District pipeline along Winter Haven Road will be replaced.
FPUD’s 4-0 board vote Dec. 9, with Don McDougal absent, approved the contract with Kirtley Construction for the San Bernardino company’s bid of $750,400.
San Diego faces a hidden earthquake threat — to its water supply. A quake, even one so far away that nobody in San Diego feels it, could cause an emergency and force mandatory water-use restrictions. That’s because most of San Diego’s water comes from hundreds of miles away through threads of metal and concrete that connect us to distant rivers and reservoirs.
It’s a whole new ballgame for the San Diego County Water Authority when it comes to finding leaks in major pipelines with cutting-edge technology. One new tech tool deployed for the first time in February actually looks like a tennis ball that floats through water-filled pipelines scanning for potential trouble. Of course, the new device is much more complex inside than a tennis ball – in fact, the Nautilus is among the most advanced tools of its kind in the world. It not only detects defects that are invisible to the human eye, it does so without requiring pipes to be drained, which saves a significant amount of water and disruption to customers.
By the beginning of May, areas of La Jolla Shores and La Jolla Heights will undergo a pipeline replacement project — in piecemeal segments — to replace or rehabilitate more than seven collective miles of underground sewer lines. Arterial streets east of La Jolla Shores Drive, portions of Torrey Pines Road, some of La Jolla Scenic Drive North, and other smaller streets are slated for work.
A $25.3 million Pipeline 5 relining project is under way in North County to improve the reliability of the San Diego region’s water delivery system. The project involves rehabilitating approximately 2.3 miles of one of the San Diego County Water Authority’s regional wholesale water pipelines in eight segments along a 9.5-mile stretch through the community of Fallbrook. Construction work will be done in phases and completed in summer 2019. When finished, the Pipeline 5 Relining Project will help extend the service life of this vital piece of infrastructure for more than 75 years. Generally, relining construction rehabilitates segments of pipelines based on their age and the need for improvements.
San Diego, Calif. – Welcome to the future. That’s the message from the San Diego County Water Authority, which is developing and deploying cutting-edge techniques to maintain its 310 miles of giant pipes that provide water for 3.3 million residents across the region. “This is all about assessing the condition of our pipelines through the most advanced technology at our disposal and performing repairs before age-related defects become an unforeseen issue,” said Martin Coghill, a senior water resources specialist for the Water Authority.
San Diego, Calif. – Welcome to the future.
That’s the message from the San Diego County Water Authority, which is developing and deploying cutting-edge techniques to maintain its 310 miles of giant pipes that provide water for 3.3 million residents across the region.
“This is all about assessing the condition of our pipelines through the most advanced technology at our disposal and performing repairs before age-related defects become an unforeseen issue,” said Martin Coghill, a senior water resources specialist for the Water Authority.
Coghill spoke before dozens of water industry officials and residents on hand for a Condition Assessment Technology Showcase during the Water Authority Board of Directors’ Engineering and Operations Committee in late August. The showcase included a review of the latest technologies to protect the region’s vital water infrastructure.
The show-and-tell included a 360-degree imaging system Coghill and his team recently developed to capture up-close views of the interior of pipelines too steep for crews to enter safely. Three-dimensional, virtual reality goggles were available for visitors to experience views recorded by the new imaging system.
A week earlier, the Water Authority hosted a technological show-and-tell for businesses and others interested in advancing the tools necessary to maintain and operate major water delivery systems. The outreach efforts were part of the agency’s expanding initiative to identify new technologies – or new uses for existing technology – to benefit the region’s water ratepayers.
Besides developing its own advanced tools, the Water Authority recently launched an online forum to solicit additional innovative concepts from entrepreneurs and members of the public.
One of the key areas in which the Water Authority has embraced innovation is maintenance of its large-scale pipeline system. Inspections with advanced technologies typically are conducted after the mid-point of a pipe’s projected lifespan, meaning some 60 miles of reinforced concrete pipe will need to be inspected over the next nine years. Visual inspections occur every 10 to 15 years.
Some of the advanced technology used in the asset management program was pioneered by the oil and gas industry, with the Water Authority and other agencies adapting and improving it for use in the water world.
“The Water Authority really is in a leadership role in trying new technologies for cost savings and efficiency, and some of these have been brought to us by private sector,” Water Authority General Manager Maureen Stapleton said during the August showcase. “However, a lot of what has been on show has been developed by our own staff…. I can’t tell you how talented our staff is in this area.”
Added Stapleton: “A lot of this can be scaled down to retail agency size, so it can be transferred to member agencies and so those agencies can make repairs without pulling pipes out and disrupting communities.”
The Water News Network is San Diego County’s source for water news and information.
