Is Infiltration Causing Problems in Your Sewerage System?
Not long after Miles Crossing Sanitary Sewer District in Oregon installed a new vacuum sewer system they realized they had an issue that needed an immediate fix. According to the superintendent, Carl Gifford, “Our flows exceed 180,000 gallons [on heavy rain days] due to a massive I/I issue that we grew to have”. This excess can put a strain on the system which can increase utility bills, not to mention, Miles Crossing is a collection system only. They have to work with a neighboring system for treatment and have a limit on max flow that can be sent.
Flovac and Miles Crossing were able to meet and come up with a plan to utilize Flovac Monitoring System to overcome these issues.
“With this system, we can monitor the fires from each individual pit. During a rain event, it is really simple to tell which ones contribute to the massive I/I we are dealing with. During the last winter, we were able to identify 9 sources of I/I that we were able to repair”.
Gifford also mentions how the system allows for the sewer district to know about problems before customers do. “An additional benefit that we observed with this system is the alarms that it provided. Numerous times we were called out for a high-level at a residence and were able to make the repair and get it back online before the customer knew there was a problem. This helps greatly with the risk management of possible failures and the following lawsuits that have happened in the past”.
Due to less load on the system, Miles Crossing have been able to add residential connections creating revenue.
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Image on Front Cover Torsten Blackwood—AFP/Getty Images