Meeting Tomorrow's Water Demand
City of Arlington--Jim Kelly
Rotarian and the Public Works Director for the City of Arlington, Jim Kelly, was our program on August 19. He started out with a bit of show and tell, with samples of pieces of the water distribution system--old and new.
Jim Kelly With a Section of Old Wooden Water Main
In addition to the show and tell, Jim gave us some statistics about water: 65% of our body weight is water. About 3% of the Earth's water is fresh water with most of it locked up in glaciers, ice caps, and permafrost, or it's buried deep in the ground. With the current drought, there is record low water levels in the Colorado River Basin with the largest US reservoir, Lake Mead, at 35% of capacity.
Here is a slide Jim showed of Arlington's water system at a glance:
The presentation was broken down in talking about regulations, source/supply, treatment and distribution. Regulations governing municipal water purveyors include the federal Safe Drinking Water Act, the State of Washington's Department of Health as to quality, Department of Ecology as to quantity, judicial and legislative action, Snohomish County (Critical Water Service Area), and more local regulations. Monthly reporting is required with annual inspections of the treatment and distribution system. The City is Currently working on correcting its 1924 Water Right with the Department of Ecology, transferring some water rights the City has acquired, completion of lead sampling, and DOH permits to expand and re-roof the GlenEagle Reservoir.
Here is a map showing Arlington's water sources on a map. The blue outline is Arlington's service area. Recently the service area was enlarged to include the area where the new Amazon building is being constructed. A portion of Smokey Point within the City of Arlington is served by Marysville, relating back to a time before this area was annexed to the City of Arlington as part of litigation settlement between the 2 cities.
Since 1906, the main well has been the Haller Well Field near the Stillaguamish River in Haller Park, which draws water using Riverbank Filtration as part of its treatment. The airport well was installed in 1947, and more recently the City has added an intertie with the Snohomish County PUD. Riverbank filtration is a natural process using the sand, gravel and rock along the riverbank, near the extraction wells. Additional treatment is required.
Arlington replaced its original water treatment plant constructed in 1924 with a new plant in 2001. The building with the mural on it as you drive down to Haller Park is the old plant. The new plant is adjacent just to the west. Soon the old building will be demolished for expansion of the current treatment plant.
Water treatment involves a staff of 3 persons. The plant operates continually with 3-8 hour shifts. Jim was proud to report that the City has never violated its water permit. It has been recognized by the State as an Outstanding Water Filtration Plant for 19 years. Only 4 plants in the state have been so recognized!
Currently the distribution system includes 2 reservoirs-the GlenEagle and 520 reservoirs. Both are on higher ground to utilize gravity pressure. A third reservoir is in the planning phase on even higher ground to serve the southwestern portion of the water service area, which may go on line in about 5 years. There are 105 miles of water main, 5,707 metered services, 1,536 fire hydrants, and nine pressure reducing valves. There is 1 booster pump station.
Meter reading used to take over 2,000 hours per year. It has been reduced to 175 hours with a conversion to drive-by meter reading which was started in 2013 and was completed in 2020. The reader can remain in a vehicle with equipment to read multiple meters wirelessly. Annual maintenance includes inspections, line replacement, leak identification & elimination, pressure monitoring and hydrant maintenance.
Jim ended with a summary of pending actions/projects:
