Quick Poll

Do you think the City of Newnan should have waited until at least mid-month to begin hanging its Christmas decorations in downtown rather than the first week in November?

Blogs

Angela McRae

Tea with friends

Deberah Williams

Everyday Finesse

Lorrie Lynch

Who's News

Published Thursday, May 29, 2008 in Local

Water tower repairs 'expensive, worthwhile'

By Sarah Fay Campbell

The Times-Herald

Water towers are the visible face of a water utility. They are also the most likely place for contamination to occur.

That's why the Coweta County Water and Sewerage Authority is taking its tank maintenance program seriously.

Linda Quick, distribution manager for the authority, presented an update on the ongoing tank maintenance program at a budget workshop Thursday.

"Water tanks show your pride in your system," Quick said. If someone sees a tank that is rusty and the legs are spindly, what must they think about the water inside?

And it's not all about aesthetics. "If you don't maintain them, they can become the biggest health hazard in the world," she said.

An incident a few years ago with the Shenandoah tank illustrates her point. There were many antennas placed on top of the tank, Quick said, and that created a "cathode problem" with reactions between the metals in the tank, the antennae and the paint.

"When we finally got the money" to inspect the tank, "paint was coming off in sheets," Quick said. "I hope we didn't do anything to harm the public."

Keeping the tanks clean is important, obviously. That's why the authority is on a multi-year maintenance program. The Shenandoah tank is due for an inside cleaning and painting job, as is the Fischer Spur tank. The East Coweta and Northgate tanks are due for a "bath" -- pressure washing of the inside with plain water -- and then disinfection with concentrated chlorine.

The worst thing that can happen to a tank, though, is the loss of the screen over the vent on the very top of the tank. "The next thing you know, you are drinking bird droppings," Quick said.

The tank maintenance program "is a very big expense, but I guarantee that it's well worth it," she said. In the past, she said, tanks were only worked on when they got in really bad shape.

The new authority approved the tank maintenance program last year.

"That was a huge step forward," said Ellis Cadenhead, general manager. "I commend y'all for taking that step."

The budget for tank maintenance this year is $189,000.

"It's a huge project to do, but it's really worthwhile," Cadenhead said. "You're no better than you look."

Quick also gave an update on an ongoing valve maintenance and location program.

In a system as large as Coweta's, which was built over the years, there are many, many valves. And most of those aren't marked on maps anywhere.

"As fast as we grew in the 20 years I've been here, we didn't have time to go back looking for valves," Quick said. So she and her crews are scouring the county looking for valves "that have been lost for 20 years" and testing them. A lot of the valves are covered up by landscaping, that homeowners have put in so the valves "don't look so gaudy," she said.

"In case of a leak, it's kind of hard to find a valve that is under a bush or under 2 feet of sod."

Even worse is locating the valve, and trying to turn off water to a leak, only to find out the valve doesn't do a thing. The authority has recently purchased a "valve exerciser" that opens and closes the valves mechanically. Normally, it would take a lot of manpower and a lot of turning to get a large valve to open and close.

Quick mentioned a "fiasco" that happened last year in the Macedonia-Buddy West area. By using the valve exerciser, "We will avoid these fiascos, because we will have physically used a valve that has been in the ground for 20 years," she said. "Some of them haven't been turned in 20 years. If you don't have a problem, you don't ever turn them."

After each valve is located, the GPS coordinates and information about the size of the valve is entered into a master map to make sure no valves are ever lost again.

Quick also mentioned the pressure and flow-testing program. In most areas of the county, the flow can be a whopping 1,600 gallons per minute when a hydrant is wide open. "We have probably some of the best pressures around," Quick said.

Additionally, the distribution division is working on flushing hydrants. Flushing is important to remove any accumulated sediment, as well as making sure the chlorine circulates well through the system. The flushing had to be cut back severely last year because "we haven't had water," Quick said.