Pumping up more options

With a new well scheduled to go online July 9, Cheney officials are looking at some options for servicing the city’s water supply system in the future.

Barring unforeseen circumstances, a re-drilled Well No. 3 is set to go online at the end of this month, providing the potential for 1,200 — 1,500 gallons per minute of additional potable water. Because of its proximity to the city’s reservoirs, Well 3 could aid not only in providing more water during the irrigation season, but also in maintaining Cheney’s 48.35 miles of water mains.

Drilled in 1960 to a depth of 549 feet — with the pump then suspended at 520 feet and static water level above the pump at 320 feet — the well inexplicably began to lose capacity and eventually stopped producing in 2012. City officials suspected some sort of collapse of the well’s casing as the cause of its production demise.

With the help of a $750,000 appropriation from the state Legislature towards the estimated $1.8 million project, Cheney began re-drilling the well last fall, descending to 750 feet to find what appears to be a strong water layer. The well on Erie Street one block west of Hagelin Park and the city’s municipal pool is also about two blocks from municipal wells 1 and 2 on Eastern Washington University’s campus and the university’s own recently drilled well at the Rozwell Physical Plant a couple blocks to the west.

Cheney’s first two wells were both drilled in 1946 to a depth of 559 and 560 feet respectively and currently produce a combined 900 gallons per minute. Two of the city’s other four potable water wells — 6 and 7 — are located west of Cheney just off State Route 904, with Well 5 along Presley Drive and Well 8 near the water reclamation plant east of the railroad tracks.

Public Works Director Todd Ableman said all of these wells start out as solid producers but over time through wear and tear see their capacity drop. The city tries to remedy this through pump rehabilitations every few years, but if Well 3 at its depth proves to be a good source, Cheney may look at deepening some of its other potable wells.

“Is that a more permanent solution?” Ableman asked. “I don’t think so.”

Currently the city has contracted with an engineer firm to develop plans and specifications that could lead to construction of a reclaimed water system reusing water from its wastewater plant solely for irrigation purposes. Cheney received $2 million in state funding this year to complete the final filtration stage at the plant needed to upgrade the water quality so it can be reused — something officials said would start out watering city parks and Cheney School District athletic facilities and grounds.

But Well 3’s success will lead to something more tangible in the near future — increasing the city’s capability to flush its water mains. Flushing is done every year, but because of the location of the wells — four of which require booster stations to lift the water up to the four main zone reservoirs — the process usually leads to discolored water disconcertingly coming out of residents’ faucets as iron sediment in the mains loosens and mixes with the water.

With Well 3 being within about 1,000 feet of two of the city’s five reservoirs, Ableman said water from the well can be pumped directly to those reservoirs to maintain their levels more efficiently along with wells 1 and 2. That will allow city crews to utilize gravity to help flush the system in a process that should create less physical disruption within the mains.

“We want to do a directional flush,” Ableman said. “We would open the (fire) hydrants and could do the mains as we move away from the reservoirs.”

Ableman said they hope to do a full city flush this September, something that would require crews to work 24 hours a day, seven days a week to accomplish. With over 48 miles of pipe and 400 fire hydrants, the process could take 400-500 hours to do the whole system, and while producing discolored water at first, would result in better high-volume flush to remove residue.

“It would be full on to start, and we won’t shut it down until it clears up,” Ableman said. “It could be half hour to an hour (per hydrant) depending on sediment build up in the main.”

John McCallum can be reached at jmac@cheneyfreepress.com.