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Indy drinking water restored |
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Tuesday, 24 July 2007 |
 The building over the reservoir and other structures at the Independence water plant were completely destroyed July 8 when the Inyo Complex Fire swept down Independence Creek. A temporary water plant using portable water tanks is now in operation and providing drinking water to Independence residents. Photo by Jon Klusmire By Jon Klusmire
Register Staff
Drink up, Independence, the water’s fine.
After scrambling for the past two weeks, crews have installed a temporary water plant that began providing clean, safe drinking water to Independence residents Friday after-noon. Getting the water plant back on line allowed the county to lift the boil water order that had been in place since July 8.
The town’s water plant and reservoir were put out of commission on July 8 when flames from the Inyo Complex blaze roared down Independence Creek and burned down the roof over the reservoir and other structures at the water plant.
The Public Works Department and County Administrator’s Office started securing temporary water tanks on July 9, said Public Works Director Ron Chegwidden. Five temporary water tanks eventually arrived at the site, and crews from the Los Angles Department of Water and Power joined county workers to get the tanks in place, operating and hooked into the water system.
On Friday, the system had been flushed and tested and the county got the appropriate water-test approvals from the state to allow the water from the plant to be declared safe for drinking and cooking.
With the help from LADWP, “we were happy with how quickly we were able to get the water plant back on line,” said Chegwidden.
Chegwidden said LADWP, which the county used as an “emergency contractor” on the job, had the manpower and equipment on hand that helped speed up the construction process. Also, several LADWP employees who used to run the plant before the county took over in 2002 offered their experience and insights into the operation, said Chegwidden.
The county has been keeping track of the costs of the new, temporary water plant and how much it has spent providing bottled and bulk water to Independence since the plant went down, said Chegwidden. The county brought in water tanker trucks full of potable water and also secured bottled water for use by residents.
All of those water-related costs should be covered, the county hopes, by various emergency and disaster funds or grants from a number of state departments and programs, said Chegwidden.
The temporary array of water tanks can hold up to 105,000 gallons of water, compared to the 187,000 gallons that was typically held in the reservoir. The temporary set-up gets the water system “up and running” to provide ample drinking water for the town, and can probably generate enough flows to handle most fire emergencies, said Chegwidden.
Now that Independence residents have drinking water, the county will begin to explore the options for rebuilding the water plant.
The first step in that effort, Chegwidden said, will be to conduct a thorough inspection of the reservoir, which is located on the banks of Independence Creek.
That inspection will reveal whether the reservoir can be repaired and a new building constructed to cover the open water, he added.
However, “there is some question whether we can repair the reservoir” and bring it up to date so it will comply with the current regulations and guidelines for drinking-water reservoirs, said Chegwidden. “We’re a little uncertain” about how the state will interpret new regulations for reservoir construction itself, and other regulations regarding the type of building that needs to be constructed to cover the reservoir and its water and other water plant operations, said Chegwidden.
It will probably take several months to sort out the issues surrounding the options for any sort of new, permanent water plant and storage facility in Independence, said Chegwidden.
Again, the county is banking on obtaining state emergency or disaster funds from various sources to help pay for building a permanent, new water plant for Independence, he added.
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Last Updated ( Monday, 10 September 2007 )
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