ENID, Okla. — After making a fast journey again to his pickup, David Hunter hoisted the cast-steel decide finish of a 2-foot-long sledgehammer to pop off the steel lid of a rusted manhole outdoors town’s water booster station off Imo Street.
Sitting subsequent to a ladder about 12 ft into the bottom was a 30-inch-wide transmission line, busy transferring 1000’s of gallons of uncooked water a day from close by Ames to Enid.
“Makes you’re feeling such as you’re Thor or one thing,” he mentioned earlier than closing the lid again on, prompting town’s water foreman, Jay Graves, to remind him he’s not purported to do the bodily labor.
“Oh, that’s proper, I’m not purported to do stuff. Largely as a result of I break issues,” Hunter mentioned, laughing once more.
The 30-inch transmission line coming from Ames is proven on this 12-foot-deep manhole on the metropolis of Enid’s booster station on Imo Street. (Alexander Ewald / Enid Information & Eagle)
This particular transmission line had a major break in late-2020, not lengthy after town of Enid’s public utilities director began his job.
Such transmission strains from town’s nicely fields in Ames and Drummond to the southwest move via the booster station, which sits at a fork within the waterlines going to both of town’s two water therapy crops.
The station, reactivated in 2006 after a 30-year dormancy, acts as an enormous railroad change for town’s water provide, diverting water from one plant to a different as wanted.
However its 4 pumps are not often used as we speak, the 2 males defined. If one thing goes incorrect on the booster station, then that creates a possible legal responsibility for town’s water provide, Hunter mentioned.
A brand new water plant being constructed for the Kaw Lake pipeline will change how water is pumped to town, he defined, so the booster station would in all probability go out of date.
“My reminiscence fails me to what’s gonna occur when it’s all mentioned and completed,” he mentioned in regards to the station. “I don’t assume we’ll have the necessity for this, is the reply, however I’m not completely certain.”
Public Utilities Director David Hunter stands within the basement of town of Enid’s booster station on Imo Street on Dec. 30, 2021. (Alexander Ewald / Enid Information & Eagle)
Much less of a balancing act
As soon as the change is flipped on Enid’s huge Kaw Lake water provide program, probably taking the Imo booster station offline wouldn’t be the one main change to town’s so-called “invisible infrastructure.”
Together with supplying Enid with a constant supply of potable water, the mission, which not too long ago started development, can also be anticipated to alleviate town utilities workers’s burden of continually balancing and sustaining town’s water sources positioned all through Northwest Oklahoma.
Town’s third water therapy plant, already being built on West Chestnut next door to one of many metropolis’s different facilities, would obtain practically twice as a lot water as its sibling crops already do — greater than doubling Enid’s every day common water provide.
This plant, which would want its personal staffing, would particularly deal with the common 10.5 million gallons of water anticipated to come back on daily basis from Kaw Lake 70 miles away.
Enid’s major therapy plant, additionally positioned off West Chestnut, processes a median 5 million gallons of water a day; a fifth as a lot water is handled on the secondary therapy plant.
Building started on the plant final fall, whereas town has but to begin constructing the precise pipeline connecting it to the lake.
Hunter mentioned Enid’s definition of uncooked water would change virtually in a single day when the mission is finished within the subsequent a number of years.
Town at present makes use of solely water from the bottom. Kaw’s floor water, although, necessitated constructing a wholly new therapy plant, as floor water is regulated otherwise under the EPA’s Safe Drinking Water Act.
In contrast to Enid’s present groundwater sources, floor water algae, micro organism and different wildlife are discovered within the reservoir water. Rain and storms can also churn up a lake’s grime and sediment, which may change the water high quality and require extra therapy, Hunter mentioned.
Enid’s wells are comparatively shallow in contrast with the remainder of the nation, however climate forecasts don’t have an effect on them as shortly as a floor water supply, he mentioned.
Water pump management panels are proven on the metropolis of Enid’s secondary water therapy plant on West Chesnut on Dec. 30, 2021. (Alexander Ewald / Enid Information & Eagle)
“Stuff that occurs below the floor has a degree of safety and separation from any kind of contamination versus the surfacing (water),” Hunter mentioned. “If it occurs, it occurs tomorrow.”
Properly fields are prioritized with low nitrate counts, and the run order of every plant’s pumps is predicated on the nitrates within the order, Graves mentioned.
The longer a nicely is pumped, the extra nitrate builds up within the provide, he mentioned, so metropolis water employees should seesaw which wells are turned with the intention to to satisfy consuming water requirements.
Partly due to this balancing act, not all of Enid’s water wells run on the similar time, Graves mentioned.
This map offered by town of Enid from its SCADA system reveals town’s 400 miles of water transmission strains from its nicely fields in Cleo Springs, Ames, Drummond and Ringwood to Enid’s two therapy crops.
Nitrates are monitored via every day measurements as per state water high quality necessities. Excessive ranges may result from improper nicely development, nicely location, overuse of chemical fertilizers or improper disposal of human and animal waste, in line with the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention.
‘Doing all of it ourselves’
Enid is already one among (if not the) largest groundwater customers within the state, in line with the Oklahoma Water Assets Board. Town obtains its water from a complete 166 wells — 5 nicely fields are developed in eight areas, from three groundwater aquifers in Northwest Oklahoma.
Pumps of various horsepower and measurement at nicely discipline crops in Cleo Springs, Ames and Ringwood push the water via a number of transmission techniques to Enid’s two therapy crops, whose pumps then push the then-treated water to town’s 50,000 residents via practically 400 miles of major strains.
With the western therapy plant serving that half of town, the central plant on the Enid Service Middle advanced additionally serves clients north and east of Enid, together with outdoors shoppers resembling Koch Fertilizer’s plant close to Enid and the Oxbow Calcining plant close to Kremlin.
Hunter mentioned different cities of Enid’s measurement are inclined to contract to a bigger entity to deal with that work and will have an extra pump, too.
Enid’s nicely fields all through Northwest Oklahoma every have between 25 to 30 wells every, which cycle out and in of operation all year long.
A equally sized metropolis, although, would have round 30 wells for the whole water provide.
“We’re doing all of it ourselves,” Hunter mentioned. “So Enid is exclusive as a result of not that many cities are doing all of it.”
Hunter mentioned the dimensions of Enid’s operations is usually a weak point with restricted metropolis staffing to cowl such a variety of water nicely fields.
Then again, he mentioned, if a selected nicely discipline goes down — like when the transmission line coming from Ames was broken in late-2020 — town received’t should bear the total brunt of abruptly being with out water, and workers can simply activate one other group of wells elsewhere.
To ease town’s burden, workers use the Supervisory Management and Knowledge Acquisition (SCADA) system to electronically monitor the continuing standing of the 2 therapy crops, out-of-town nicely crops and nicely pumps, surge towers and elevated storage tanks.
Metropolis workers additionally use SCADA to remotely function the wells within the fields largely in Cleo Springs, Ames, Ringwood and Drummond. As a result of town additionally serves Vance Air Pressure Base, it has restricted entry into the system as nicely.
This screenshot reveals town of Enid’s Supervisory Management and Knowledge Acquisition (SCADA) system, which utilities workers use to electronically function and monitor a lot of town’s huge water system each inside and outdoors of town. (Screenshot offered by town of Enid)
None of Enid’s 41 wells drawing water from the Enid Remoted Terrace Aquifer — positioned beneath town itself — are related to the system, Hunter mentioned, as a result of they have been constructed so way back and are in shut proximity to the primary therapy plant.
Town additionally barely makes use of the availability from the aquifer anymore, in line with OWRB .
SCADA tracks the gallons per minute, strain per sq. inch and chlorine ranges, and its interface reveals a change just like those on the precise crops and different buildings. It additionally tracks long-term nicely information, like whether or not a nicely has been working an excessive amount of over the past week, six months or 4 years.
If the interface reveals an error at one of many wells or crops — for instance, if an element is damaged or one thing is overflowing — SCADA will routinely web page a utilities supervisor, typically as early as 2 a.m.
Errors will be one or a mixture of communications failures; {an electrical} situation known as “three-phase”; or an “overload,” when a plant or nicely home panel receives an excessive amount of energy.
Hunter mentioned earlier than SCADA, a person with a clipboard would exit to every nicely home, take a measurement, write it down and go to the following website.
An operations specialist nonetheless goes out each morning to the entire crops to test the electronics, although.
“Any time our guys should exit manually or bodily to a website, that’s misplaced time,” Hunter mentioned. “So something we are able to do with a click on of a change or a click on of a mouse, that’s what we wish.”
‘Not supposed to fret about it’
As every day demand for water will increase, so does the availability, Hunter mentioned — water use displays pure, diurnal human habits and habits.
Water utilization begins to spike when folks get up and begin flushing their bogs and making espresso, falling after they go to highschool and to work. A rise begins once more when everybody comes residence, makes dinner, washes dishes and once more goes to the toilet.
Summertime sees demand spike much more when extra metropolis water is used to water lawns.
By design, sure plant pumps run whereas others sit on stand-by, as Graves defined. Metropolis workers will activate extra of town’s wells to compensate for the necessity.
“Individuals don’t notice how arduous it’s to maintain invisible infrastructure invisible,” Hunter added. “You’re solely purported to rise up within the morning, flush your rest room, take your bathe, make your espresso. … You’re not supposed to fret about it.”
In February 2021, metropolis workers responded to numerous water line breaks on account of the state’s main winter ice storm. Hunter mentioned a number of Enid’s water wells additionally froze up, and several other’s cast-iron casings had cracked open. All the Ringwood water plant additionally froze and cracked.
Metropolis complete utilization fell again to about 8 million gallons Thursday, following a pointy every day decline since Monday from unusually excessive ranges stemming from the snowstorms.
By Feb. 18, citywide water utilization had spiked to greater than 12.4 million gallons a day, as extra Enid residents have been dripping their taps en masse to forestall pipe breaks. The Cleo Springs nicely discipline was pumping at full capability however was unable to maintain up with demand because the Ringwood plant stayed down.
“It was just like a summer season in August,” Hunter mentioned. “It was in all probability some methods greater than we’d see in August, as a result of it was simply continuous massive breaks after which a continuous massive demand that simply by no means shut off.”
In December 2021, town averaged between 7.5 million to eight million gallons of water, he mentioned. In response to a report commissioned by town in 2009, a every day common of 18.45 MGD is anticipated for use by 2050.
Metropolis workers have repaired 5 wells this previous yr, in line with the mayor’s annual state of town handle Friday.
During the last yr and a half, town has extra recurrently used the Ringwood plant, Graves mentioned. Nonetheless, most of the wells in Ringwood’s nicely discipline — already lengthy thought of a “drought-sensitive” discipline, thus working just for a number of months of the yr — stay offline, as they nonetheless await repairs from the winter storm and a fireplace a number of years in the past.
Extra tales within the Information & Eagle will proceed to take a look at the long run ripple results of town’s Kaw Lake mission on its close by nicely fields.
