All municipal water systems should be flushed twice a year to remove undesirable sediment from the pipeline network. To effectively perform this task, a sequential plan must be composed. Without a well thought out plan, the system flushing will do little more than stir up and move the sediment around within the pipe network. When flushing any water system network, a Unidirectional flushing sequence plan must be implemented. In a unidirectional plan, water is only allowed to flow in one direction within the system to a selected hydrant flushing point. An accurate water system map is essential in making this plan, as the location of line valves and line sizes must be known. The following presents a typical unidirectional flushing sequence plan and procedure:

1. Field investigation Water Superintendent to determine location and operability of water system line valves throughout the piping network.

2. Create line valve and flushing hydrant identification alpha-numeric numbering system to enable sequence operation.

3. Prepare schematic map of water system corresponding to alpha-numeric identification system.

4. Prepare sequential street by street check list with action confirmation log identifying valve operation (closing and opening procedure).

5. Plan ahead; pick a 2-week period for flushing 2 to 4 weeks in advance.

6. Notify the system customers that the municipality will be conducting flushing during this period (municipal notice, local newspaper, etc...); and that discoloration, lower water pressure, and chlorine odors may be present.

7. Increase chlorine feed at supply wells to achieve a 0.3 to 0.5 ppm free residuals throughout the system, including the storage tank.

8. On the starting day of flushing, make sure the tanks are full. It might be a good idea to run the well supplies on manual during this flushing period to make sure a full tank is ready at the start of each flushing day.

9. When flushing, make sure all water supplies have been turned off so that all water is coming from the storage tanks only.

10. With the storage tank as the high point, start flushing individual water lines working down stream from the tank.

11. Line valve must be turned off so that flow is in one direction only, and the flushing point is at the lowest elevation hydrant on line.

12. Make a log, so that when done, it is confirmed that all closed valves have been reopened.

13.All flushing should be performed through the large pumper nozzle to achieve the minimum 8 foot per second flushing velocity.

14. Flushing at each hydrant should be a minimum of 3 to 5 minutes (or until clear).

15. To accomplish an 8-fps velocity, the following flows based on line size are required:

4 inch = 300 gpm
6 inch = 700 gpm
8 inch = 1300 gpm
10 inch = 2000 gpm
12 inch = 2800 gpm

16. Always flush dead end lines last.

17. Never flush contaminated water through an earlier cleaned line.

18. Some areas, due to pipe age, will require multiple days of flushing to accomplish a relatively clean line.

19. System flushing sequence should be performed during evening and nighttime hours (6PM to 4AM window period).

20. Water Superintendent should oversee and assist in valve/hydrant operations. He should also maintain the checklist with action log and descriptive notes (color, time to clear, etc...).

Knowing where the existing underground utilities are is the first step in a successful excavation project. The problem faced by many municipalities is the lack of documentation of where the various utilities are within the ground. In the past, sewer, gas, and water lines were installed and the only record that was taken was in the minds of the people that were there when the installation occurred. This information may or may not be passed on to the people that follow them in their positions and there is a chance that it may not be passed on correctly without proper documentation. Disruptions in service to residences and businesses, project delays, and additional costs to the municipality are all results of not having a good record or knowledge of existing utilities.

The various services set up to avoid utility conflicts (PA ONE CALL for example) are important because the designer and the contractor are both informed of where the existing utilities are before the excavation begins. The more information that can be provided during the design phase of the project, the better the result in the project during the construction phase. A good relationship between the authorities responsible for the utilities is also very important. Information must be shared between utilities in order to avoid future conflicts.

As-Built drawings are an important tool that the municipality should have on any underground utility installation. The as-builts will not only provide information on the utility that was installed during the project, but they will also tell of any other utilities that were encountered as well. Pulling a municipal employee away from their daily tasks to document a utility project may be difficult. This is a task that can be accomplished by a construction inspector provided by an outside source, normally the engineering firm that designed the project.

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) is a new technology that is being used to document utility locations. The field information that is obtained by the GIS units is very accurate and can be transferred directly onto computer-generated plans. This type of locating reduces the chance of human error and can reduce the number of man-hours required for the documentation. These same units can then be used to mark the existing utility locations when an excavation project is being designed or constructed.

Knowing where your utilities are will not only save time and money, but it can also reduce the risk of injury, especially when working around underground gas and power lines. An effort must be made to document the underground utility locations in a way that will allow for future generations to locate and work on and around them with confidence.

Do you want the benefits of a Geographic Information System, but don’t want to tie up all of your time and manpower to create and maintain it? We can help you. Once we get started, all that you need is a computer with Windows 98, a gigabyte of hard drive space, a CD-ROM drive and a color printer.

The first step will be to create a base map of your community. This can be done using digital tax maps available through your County Real Property Tax Service. After that, we can add any or all of the following data "layers": water mains, sanitary and storm sewers, electric power lines, zoning districts, flood plains, street and road signs, special district boundaries, etc.

Not only can this information be shown on maps, but data can be "attached" to the map symbols. Click on a water main and see its size, material, date installed or any other information that you can provide. This is true for sewers, roads, electric lines or any mapped data. The beauty of our approach is that you can start out with just basic information and add detail to it as your budget allows.

Whatever data we prepare for you will be saved on a CD along with an easy to use viewer program. The program allows you not only to view the maps and data but also to print them and query (ask questions) the information and prepare reports. We can make multiple CDs for each user that you have.

Last year, in our summer newsletter, I wrote about the benefits of sludge handling from your sewage treatment plant through the use of a sludge reed bed. If you recall, the cost of liquid sludge removal from a 300,000 gallon per day plant was estimated at $40,000 per year. In comparison, the operation costs of a sludge reed bed are minimal, with no hard costs until the solidified sludge needs to be removed approximately every seven years.

A sludge reed bed works on two very simple concepts. Common reeds are planted in a sand/stone filter, and the reeds absorb both some of the liquid and dissolved sludge. Secondly, the sand filter returns the filtered supernatant to the sewage treatment plant, leaving the solidified sludge, which slowly dissolves in the liquid and becomes "food" for the reeds.

Sludge reed beds have now been completed and are in operation in Youngsville Borough in Warren County, PA. There are four cells for this operation, and the intent is to alternate sludge removal to a different cell approximately each week. We have found that the reeds are very aggressive in growth, and the first two cells have "wall to wall" reeds. We have noted that after the application of two inches of liquid sludge, it is digested, dried, and only a minimal amount of solids remain after a two to three week period. In the case of Youngsville Borough, the sludge is moved by gravity both to the reed beds, and the filtered supernatant is drained by gravity back to the wet well. Thus there are no pumping costs, and minimal operator time is required for maintenance of the system.

The sludge reed beds appear to be an option for sludge handing that may drastically cut your costs, with minimal operator time required. The initial construction cost is estimated at about $1 per gallon of sludge to be removed per year. Sludge can be loaded at a rate of approximately 30 gallons per square foot per year. In the case of Youngsville Borough, two concrete beds (each with two cells) are 40' x 175' in size.

Sludge reed beds are not for everyone, and the biggest limitation is the size of the plant. If you have over 500,000 gallons per day of flow, the size required for the beds will be very large, and land area may be prohibitive. But if you have a small plant, and land available, this is an option you should look into.

                            Youngsville Sludge Reed Bed

If you are a member of a non-profit organization, and are looking for a fund raiser, you should consider a golf course yardage guide for your local club. The yardage guide is a hole-by-hole map with exact yardages from tee to bunker to water to green. Advertising can be sold and included throughout the booklet, and the booklets can be sold at the course to raise revenue. We can help you with the exact yardage requirement. Give us a call for a quote, and we can have a survey crew plot each hole, with distances guaranteed accurate.