HomeMy WebLinkAboutItem 05.bPosritroned to Thrive
Rub lic Works
January 2013
LAKEVILLE PUBLIC WORKS
Christopher Petree, Director
January 2013
• Water Use 2012
The Utilities Division distributed over
2.5 billion gallons of water in 2012. That
is the most water that has ever been
pumped by the City. When compared
with metered water, only 3.5 percent of
the pumped water was unaccounted
for, down from 5 percent in 2011. In
2007, the City pumped a similar
amount, but was still 2.2 million gallons
short of the 2012 total. Average daily
use was 6.9 million gallons. Water use
per person per day was 123 gallons.
The peak day for 2012 was 19 million
gallons, the same as the peak day in
2007. In all the Water Treatment Facility
operated at more than 80
percent capacity for 14 days
in July and at 90 percent
capacity for 8 of those days.
What that means is that on
those peak days, the City
had 14 of its 17 wells
operating nearly around the
clock to meet and recover
from demand. One well was
out of service because it was
not operating efficiently and
two wells on the south side
of the City that
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are restricted in their use. In
2008, the City negotiated a
water supply plan and water
appropriation permit with the
Minnesota Department of
Natural Resources which set
our maximum pumping
capacity at 2.8 billion gallons
annually. It also set the City's
maximum pumping rate and
established a number of
conditions under which the
City operates its water system.
Significant among those conditions was the establishment of water use restrictions
and a tiered water rate structure to promote water conservation. Those
conservation measures have allowed the City to meet periodic high demands and
maintain flexibility within the water system to respond to emergencies. Over the
next 10 months, the Utilities Division will be putting together the necessary
information to update and renew the water supply plan and water appropriations
permit prior to its expiration in November.
❖ Snow Events 2012
As winter seasons go, 2012 was
a poor year by which to judge
winters in Minnesota, with
relatively mild temperatures
and a mere 28 inches of snow.
Nevertheless, this calm year
resulted in 36 snow events. A
snow event is, effectively,
anytime the plows respond
to snow or ice on the
roadways. Many times the
accumulation is not
significant, but the impact
is a slippery road surface
which needs to be
corrected with the
application of deicer or by
timely snow removal. Over
the course of the year, City
plow operators spent
approximately 3,000 hours
in the trucks dealing with a
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variety of winter snow and ice conditions. Some were relatively short periods
totaling 10 hours or less to one event in December that was more than 360 total
hours. In total, crews applied over 1,555 tons of deicer during those snow events.
This in itself points to an extremely mild winter as it equates to a little less than one
third of the City's typical deicer use over the course of a winter.
❖ Water Main Repairs 2012
Beyond the distribution of water, an effective
measure of the health of the water system is
in the number of water main breaks that a
City experiences over the course of a year. In
City's with older infrastructure components,
the number of breaks can be significant and
some large enough, like the recent
downtown Minneapolis and Coon Rapids
breaks, to catch the attention of the media.
For the most part, though, water main breaks
are small events affecting a handful of houses
and businesses for a relatively short period of
time. Many water main breaks are found by
staff and residents who see water in the
street at a time and place where it would not
be normal. The Utilities Division then uses a
leak detection service to
locate the most
probable location of the
break, uncovers the
pipe, repairs the break,
and returns the area to
its original condition. In
some cases this whole
process can take as little
21 hours and in other,
more complicated
situations, the better
part of the day. In 2012,
the Utilities Division
experienced eight actual breaks, either holes or cracks in the water main. The
City's average is 12 breaks per year. This small number of breaks points to a
growing community with a water system infrastructure that is relatively new and
well maintained. Water main breaks are extremely serious and receive immediate
attention in repair from Utilities Division staff.
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