Water Tank Outlet Pipe Appears to Have Cracks In It
Town Hopes To Have It Sealed This Week
The Petersburgh Water District emptied its water tank by Wednesday morning September 2 so that contractors arriving that day could inspect the bottom of the tank for suspected leaks. The bottom of the tank looked pretty good, but the inlet and outlet pipes were significantly corroded, especially the outlet pipe. Supervisor Dennis Smith said after turning off a valve that is about 15 feet from the tank, they ran water into the outlet pipe for quite a long time and it never filled up, apparently because the water was leaking out of the pipe somewhere in that 15 foot section.
But the contractors did clean the tank on that day and installed the anodes which protect the tank from corrosion, so some forward progress was made.
On Friday September 4 another contractor, Precision Industrial Services, arrived with more specialized equipment for viewing and cleaning the inside of pipes. They cleaned out the inside of the inlet and outlet pipes (Smith said he was impressed by how well the equipment was able to clean up the inside of the pipe) and then inspected it with cameras inserted into the inside of the pipe, and there appeared to be cracks in the outlet pipe. This is a 10” diameter pipe that is encased in concrete, and part of its length runs underneath the tank, so replacing it is a serious problem which would involve a very large expense. The contractors proposed sealing the pipe with an epoxy compound that they could apply to the inside of the pipe. Exactly how long such a repair might last is unclear, but Smith said this procedure of sealing the pipe by applying an epoxy compound to the inside is a proven technology which is successfully used on municipal water pipes all the time.
As for the inlet pipe, because it was not in as bad a condition, the contractor recommended inserting a sleeve with adhesive on the outside that can be inflated into place to seal the inside of the pipe.
Smith said he doesn’t have a firm date when the contractors could come to seal the pipes, but he hopes it will be some time before September 11.
In the meantime, the Water District has been supplied for a week (at this writing) from the mobile water tanker which formerly was parked in the municipal parking lot. This tanker, which now serves as the District’s water tank, holds 6,700 gallons. With daily water usage at about 14,000 gallons per day, it must be filled three times a day. It has been temporarily hooked up to the outlet from the Water Plant so that it can be filled using the District’s regular wells. This requires quite a bit of manual operation from the water operators. The tanker fills up in about 4 hours. It requires at least six trips a day to turn on and off the water supply. During the week that this temporary system has been in place, the water tanker has run out of water twice, but Smith says now that the operators are more familiar with the temporary system, they may be able to avoid any further empty tank incidents.
All of this work finding the leak and sealing the pipes, along with the tank cleaning and installation of the anodes, is adding up to an expensive proposition. It is too early to give precise estimates of the cost, but Smith says he expects it will all cost more than $50,000. He does expect that this expense can be included as part of the ongoing WIIA grant dedicated to repairs and upgrades of the water system, and in addition, he said there are grants available for emergency funds for Water Districts for which Petersburgh may be eligible, and he plans to pursue that as well.