Nor Any Drop
to Drink
Presentation to city council 9/18
Please understand that I do not
enjoy making these presentations One reason is that I am not very
good at it. Having said that, I am a data freak and when I come
across information that may be helpful to the city I feel obligated
to share it with council and the public. My intent is to be non
confrontational and to offer constructive ideas.
The subject at hand is a case in
point.
During
the debate on the need to increase water department revenue and
quotes from a paid consultant about how to do so, I heard not one
word about about the 130 million gallon gorilla in the closet.
Yes I30 million gallons of treated
water per year has gone missing. This loss is equal to a football
field sized pool 30 feet deep.
After
several days of searching the public record and talking with utility
billing and water department personnel I collected the following
historical data for 2013.
Revised numbers:
Data
and source:
From
the water department: millions gallons (MG) of treated water
delivered 557.5
From
utility billing office – treated water sold: MG 396.8.
Difference
between delivered and sold: 160.7
From
the water department: MG used in the plant: 27.1*
From
the utility billing department:
Waste
water plant use, metered but not charged MG 1.5
City
Building use, metered but not charged MG .33
My
estimate of other city buildings used but not charged MG .8 (probably
high)
My
estimate of un-metered uncharged legitimate uses including fire
hydrant flush, fire suppression, sprinkler tests: MG 1.0
All
other non metered - not accounted for MG 130
* Treated water is used in the
treatment process
Some
leakage is to be expected but In my uneducated opinion a 24% loss
rate is more than just excessive.
a.
The loss represents thousands of dollars per year in wasted treatment
costs. The market value is over $700,000.
b.
This information needs to be confirmed and if it is found to be
valid, action should be taken as outlined in the included internet
link.
We
are actually wasting 162 thousand pounds of lime, 71 thousand pounds
of alum, 24 thousand pounds of CO2 and ten thousand pounds of other
chemicals including, charcoal, phosphate and chlorine into this lost
asset. 7 million gallons of treated water used in the treatment
process is also lost. We might as well be taking the material
directly to the landfill. Shouldn’t this gross waste be pursued as
ardently as seeking new revenue?
I
do hope that the Fife Ave. work will help to reduce a little of the
loss but I wonder what took us so long.
Paul
Hunter budhunter@frontier.com
WATER
AUDITS AND WATER LOSS CONTROL FOR PUBLIC WATER SYSTEMS
1.
The average water loss in public water systems is 16%. Up to 75% of
the loss is recoverable.
2.
Authorized consumption is the sum of billed and unbilled metered
consumption.
3.
Unauthorized consumption is unmetered and unbilled consumption caused
by theft.
4.
Leakage and other unmetered consumption such as fire department
activities can account for a significant amount of unbilled
consumption
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