Mt Ralston Property Association
Water System Repairs
CURRENT
11 Sept 2011
Bolt up is complete and the water tank is presently refilling. We are back on our own water system.
10 Sept 2011
New stainless manway installed. Bolt up in progress
8 Sept 2011
Regrettably the machine shop set up the laser cutter by hand instead of using the CAD program. As a result, the operator cut the plate 26" wide (dimension between corner bolt hole centerlines) instead of the 28" actual width.
Since 304 stainless plate is difficult to obtain on a rush basis, we have the option to delay installation by one day (requiring a round trip to Sacto to will call one day later on Friday) to wait for stainless or switch to carbon steel plate. I've requested availability and repricing for 1/8-1/4" carbon plate for fab & delivery today to maintain schedule. Given we're converting to a full face gasket, no metal will be exposed to the water and we can prime/paint the exterior to reduce corrosion until the tank is recoated and repainted.
Tank Photos
Tank Inspection Photos 2011sep05
2 Sept 2011
We had a leak in our water tank that was discovered on Saturday and we are now operating on the church camp water system. Our water tank is drained. I took some pictures, but I haven't taken them off my camera yet. Following is the set of procedures Steve M has outlined for the repair.
So everybody has water, but we are still getting it from the camp at this time.
I'll pass along any other information I get.
Dennis
4/27 2011
Francis just told me that the water leak near the Association pump house has been repaired. So, we are back on our own system. There may be some smell of chlorine because the system was chlorinated after the repair.
There is still a mess to cleanup at the repair site and we don't know what the final cost of the repair is yet. The Association paid for a backhoe and the plumbing help to fix it.
In the process of turning the water back on, there was another leak up the hill. It sounded like Protzel's line. That was either repaired or isolated so the water could then fill the tank.
So, this spring has been a three leaker. Hope it stays that way.
Dennis
4/10/2011
Weekend of 9-10 April 2011, it was reported water was not running at Mt Ralston.
Subsequent efforts involved shutting the isolation valves in an effort to locate the leak. This involved finding the valves and digging through the snow to access them. (not fun).
Status as of Tuesday evening 12 April, was that all the isolation valves were closed to isolate the well and tank to the smallest section, and water still wasn't filling the tank.
Francis reported he only had a trickle of water, but that the pump was pumping water. So the pump is working and pumping its quota of water somewhere. If the water pressure near Sierra Pines is below 40 pounds, the water is leaking out before getting up to the tank, therefore the tank isn't the problem.
Steve McAdams reports the pump must have at least 60 psig backpressure or it will overheat due to over current. Steve stated that he believes the failure of the previous pump was due in part to a loss of head on the pump when the leak occurred at the Brazell cabin last year. That reduced the pump discharge pressure at the well head to 20-30 psig, much too low. The flow shroud that was installed last year will help but not guarantee the problem is prevented.
4/14/2011
The Mt Ralston Water system is now tied to the church camp water system.
Everybody has water except for the isolated segment that the Association well is on.
We still need to locate the leak and get it fixed before reconnecting the Mt Ralston Water system and restoring service to everyone.
Many thanks go to Garry Bell, Bryan Reading and his daughter Angela, Francis, and anybody else who has been toughing it out up there.
4/18/201
Todd Neil relayed. "What we found was that the new fire hydrant adjacent to the well house appears to be leaking underground. We are presuming that the coupler used to tie the hydrant line into the main line settled due to snowmelt softening the soil and the massive snow weight on the ground in that location tweaking the line thus starting a leak. You will see that we tried to channel runoff water away from the hydrant with no success – the runoff from Mt. Ralston road is significant and flows right into our work area. I believe the first thing that needs to be done is to channel the water away from the hydrant. The leak appears to be just right of the hydrant and just behind the yellow barrier pipe. Then we dig out the hole – using a sump pump if needed to uncover the joint. We should confirm the leak by either turning on the iso valve in front of my cabin or turning on the pump.
Francis is arranging to have Gary Bell come out to fix it.
Dennis provides a link to some pictures of the work site area and where the leak is.
Leaks are an ongoing problem that cost much money and consume the time of a few unpaid board members and volunteers.
Steve McAdams is also proposing purchase and installation of some control instruments and valves to allow one to locate and isolate leaks without having to dig out any or all the main-line block valves or wait for the tank level transmitter to record miniscule changes. He has been looking into web-accessible data-logging, status monitoring and alarm messaging, a (leak) flow transmitter, tank level rate-of-change alarms, air-actuated butterfly shut-off valves at strategic locations and appropriate policies and fees to enforce/reward proper winterization of cabin piping and appropriate cost recovery when incidents occur due to failure thereof. He feels he could design a system that would allow a properly trained water watchman/operator to locate and isolate a leak (section of main line) from anywhere in the world after being notified by text or email any time of day.