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Pinedale Online > News > July 2012 > Town of Pinedale gives public tour of water and sewer treatment facilities

Aeration. Photo by Dawn Ballou, Pinedale Online.
Aeration
Sewage swater goes through a series of aeration ponds at the treatment plant south of Pinedale.

Anaerobic pond. Photo by Dawn Ballou, Pinedale Online.
Anaerobic pond
Wastewater flows into the first settling pond where it undergoes treatment conditions without oxygen, similar to how a septic tank works. Special tarps cover the entire pond. There is surprisingly little odor from these ponds.

Primary Treatment. Photo by Dawn Ballou, Pinedale Online.
Primary Treatment
Randy Hubbard, Public Works Director, explains what happens in the Primary Treatment facility, which separates out garbage solids that are mixed with sewer waste.

Intake. Photo by Dawn Ballou, Pinedale Online.
Intake
The water is drawn from two pipes deep underwater near the outlet of Fremont Lake. This is where it enters into the system to begin treatment.

UV treatment. Photo by Dawn Ballou, Pinedale Online.
UV treatment
Water moving through these pipes is treated with UV light to kill harmful viruses and bacteria.
Town of Pinedale gives public tour of water and sewer treatment facilities
by Dawn Ballou, Pinedale Online!
July 20, 2012

The Town of Pinedale gave the public a tour of their water and sewer treatment facilities on Thursday, July 19th. The open house and tour was to familiarize the public with the Town’s facilities and answer questions ahead of the public meeting next week to discuss the 25% rate increase and future installation of water meters.

The Town’s seven public works employees handle the operations at the various treatment and monitoring plants. All of these employees have received training and certification to make sure they are qualified with the latest standards.

The main treatment facility is located south of Pinedale on the west side of Pine Creek. Town sewer and water flows into a series of filtering systems, anaerobic settling ponds, aeration ponds and ultraviolet light treatments to purify the water so it is safe to return to Pine Creek and allow to go downstream. The treatment process takes approximately 14 to 18 days to process from raw sewage to potable water, depending on the volume flow of the water passing through the system.

The drinking water is taken from Fremont Lake as the water source. Two intake pipes, one located approximately 75 feet below the surface and a newer second line approximately 125 ‘ under the lake feed the Town’s water supply. The entire water and sewer system through Town is gravity fed. At the intake, the water undergoes UV and chlorine treatments to kill viruses and any living organisms it may contain. The chlorine kills any E. coli and fecal coliform organisms that would make people sick. The intake and flow systems are constantly monitored with alert networks in place in the event anything should malfunction.

At one time years ago, Pinedale took its drinking water directly from Pine Creek. Later, that was changed to drawing water from Fremont Lake with no treatment. As government standards have become more strict, the Town has upgraded their system to make sure the are in compliance with all the current water quality laws and requirements.


The Town has made a number of upgrades recently to meet upcoming EPA standards which will go into effect in 2014. The EPA safety standards and requirements create purifications systems and redundancy infrastructure that protects Pinedale citizens as well as downstream users who are down the line to receive our processed water.

The Town is working methodically to replace any deteriorating old pipes and failing sewer or water infrastructure as they do their street repair, curb and gutter program. The Town can get grant money to help pay for the underground utility work, but must come up with the complete cost for the surface road and sidewalk work, so that is being done section-by-section around town over time as their budget allows. The next section scheduled to be done for Phase 7 will be the older part of town north of Pine Street to the Pinedale High School between Tyler and Faler Avenue: from North Street to Valley Road; and from Mill Street south to South Fremont Avenue.

Pinedale water is not metered. The Town is working through the process until ultimately water meters cab be installed so water usage is more accurately measured for actual use. In the winter, use actually increases for water volume because residents are instructed to run bleeders to keep their lines from freezing.

The Pinedale Town Council voted to increase the sewer and water rates by 25% in June, 2012. In-town residents pay $93 for water and $53 for sewer quarterly. Retail businesses pay $118 for water and $66 for sewer. Businesses that use more water or have more than 5 employees pay as much as $260 for water and $148 for water. A restaurant that seats under 35 people, pays $154 for water and $103 for sewer quarterly. The courthouse and schools pay the Town $781 for water and $443 for sewer. Vacation rates are 10% of the regular rate for businesses and 25% of the regular rates for all other users.

The tour was intended to residents a better understanding of the improvements made to the Town's water and sewer infrastructure. The public is invited to a public workshop discussing Town water on Thursday, July 26th.



Related Links
  • www.townofpinedale.us - Town of Pinedale
  • Town of Pinedale Public Works
  • Water metering Questions & Answers

  • Raw water UV treatment. Photo by Dawn Ballou, Pinedale Online.
    Raw water UV treatment
    Raw water is given UV treatment at the intake and again at the outlet of the process to steralize it and kill any pathogens.

    Trojan UV. Photo by Dawn Ballou, Pinedale Online.
    Trojan UV
    UV (ultraviolet) light is effective at treating for Cryptosporidium and Giardia which may be in the raw water from the lake, and which are chlorine-resistant. resistant. Fremont Lake water is naturally very pure.

    Removing garbage. Photo by Dawn Ballou, Pinedale Online.
    Removing garbage
    The system separates out garbage that has mixed in with waste products. The course and fine solids are separated and dumped into a bin. Mini shampoo bottles, paper, and chunks of unidentifiable debris were in the mix.

    Garbage solids. Photo by Dawn Ballou, Pinedale Online.
    Garbage solids

    Gallons per minute. Photo by Dawn Ballou, Pinedale Online.
    Gallons per minute
    The entire system and flow rates are constantly monitored.

    In and out. Photo by Dawn Ballou, Pinedale Online.
    In and out
    The maze of pipes is labeled to keep track of where everything comes in and out of the various rooms in the process.

    Magnesium hydroxide. Photo by Dawn Ballou, Pinedale Online.
    Magnesium hydroxide
    Magnesium hydroxide is added as a buffer to help stop odors by preventing the formation of hydrogen sulfide gas as well as reduce corrosion in the system lines.

    Feed lines. Photo by Dawn Ballou, Pinedale Online.
    Feed lines

    Chlorination Building. Photo by Dawn Ballou, Pinedale Online.
    Chlorination Building
    Town of Pinedale Engineer Eugene Ninnie (blue shirt), shows tour visitors into the Chlorination building.

    Making chlorine. Photo by Dawn Ballou, Pinedale Online.
    Making chlorine
    The Town is able to save some money by making their own chlorine onsite.

    Chlorination. Photo by Dawn Ballou, Pinedale Online.
    Chlorination
    This apparatus is used to add chlorine into the water system. The chlorine kills viruses and disinfects the water.

    Water System. Photo by Dawn Ballou, Pinedale Online.
    Water System
    Alan Svalberg, Water & Wastewater Supervisor, explains the chlorination system.

    Corrosion control. Photo by Dawn Ballou, Pinedale Online.
    Corrosion control
    Sodium Silicate is used to control corrosion.

    Making chlorine. Photo by Dawn Ballou, Pinedale Online.
    Making chlorine
    Ingredients for making salt brine to be used in generating chlorine.

    Pressure Gauge. Photo by Dawn Ballou, Pinedale Online.
    Pressure Gauge
    The lines are constantly monitored to make sure the system is operating correctly.

    Rooms. Photo by Dawn Ballou, Pinedale Online.
    Rooms

    UV Treatment Building. Photo by Dawn Ballou, Pinedale Online.
    UV Treatment Building

    Metering Vault Building. Photo by Dawn Ballou, Pinedale Online.
    Metering Vault Building

    Radio communications. Photo by Dawn Ballou, Pinedale Online.
    Radio communications
    The water and sewer system is all interconnected and much of it is remotely monitored electronically. This allows the staff to keep tabs on the system and to be quickly notified should something go amiss.

    Secondary Aeration Pond. Photo by Dawn Ballou, Pinedale Online.
    Secondary Aeration Pond

    Outgoing UV treatment. Photo by Dawn Ballou, Pinedale Online.
    Outgoing UV treatment
    Once the treated sewage water has gone through all the processes, which can take from 12-18 days depending on the in-flow, the water undergoes another UV treatment (in the building with the green roof) before being released into Pine Creek.
    Pinedale Online > News > July 2012 > Town of Pinedale gives public tour of water and sewer treatment facilities

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