KONOCTI WATER UPGRADES WATER TREATMENT SYSTEMS
CLEARLAKE >> Konocti County Water District has received a grant from California’s Cap and Trade/Environmental Defense Fund equaling $10.7 million dollars to upgrade and replace systems at the Clearlake treatment plant.
Frank Costner, the water district’s general manager said, “In 2014 during the last drought in California, our raw water pumps were having problems pumping water from the lake due to its low level and so we applied for grant funds to engineer a solution. We were still able to pump water, but the pumps weren’t pumping efficiently.”
Costner listed the upgrades and new systems: “A new intake line into the lake; that way we can get the water from the lower level, the deeper water. There’s a screen on the end of the pipe to keep the fish out. A new pump house on the shoreline, with three new pumps. A new chemical room there, also. A new line running from the pump house to the treatment plant, which is a raw-water line.”
The project is six months into the two-year plan so not everything listed has been completed.
“Pace Engineering out of Redding,” said Costner, “did the engineering for the entire project, which they began in 2014. Out of the grant money, the engineering and environmental work cost $652,000, leaving the remainder of the $10.7 million for construction being done by T&S Construction, also out of Redding.”
“The Board of Directors and office staff worked really hard,” said Costner, “on getting the grant money. The project is 100% funded by the grant, which came from the Cap & Trade.”
Asked if, due to the project, there had been a price increase to their customers, Costner replied, “We did have a price increase to cover the cost of the project, but since getting the grant money, that money has been used for drought related expenses, such as increased chemical costs, labor costs and material costs.”
Costner, 52, has been with KCWD since he was 18 years old. He got a job changing filters during a Christmas break and after he graduated high school, he got a full time job. “Thanks to my girlfriend’s best friend’s dad who was the manager at the time. I’ve been here
34 years,” he said. “Went from laborer to general manager.” There was certainly a smile behind his face mask.
“At the treatment plant there’s a new filter that can filter 720 gallons per minute, filter pumps, a 500,000 gallon clear-well tank (for finished water), a new computer system to run the treatment plant, a high lift pump station, that pumps water from the finished water tank to the customers/distribution systems. We also got a 400 kilowatt backup generator to run the water treatment plant and the lake pump station/ pump house at the shoreline in case of a power cut from PG&E.”
Walking outside through the plant it isn’t hard to be impressed with the scope and scale of the non-profit business that gets water from the lake to the roughly 2,000 connections that serve a population of 5,700 people, mostly in the avenues of Clearlake, east of Highway 53.
The new 500,000 gallon clear-well tank, which is five times bigger than the existing one, is made of steel. American steel. “Everything for this project has to be American made, according to the grant,” said Costner.
Kirsten Priebe, an elected board of director member for KCWD, added, “Even the cement used at the lakeside pump station wet-well and at the treatment plant filter, must be ‘food grade’ because anything the water comes in contact with has to be certified there’s no contaminates in the cement that would leach into the water.”
The clear-well tank was currently empty and, being like a giant silo (31 feet tall by 53 feet in diameter) it echoed, feeling otherworldly inside.
Priebe pointed out areas on the approximately 1.5 acres of the treatment plant where, “a lot of new underground piping has been put in. There’s also a new pipe (the raw-water line) that goes all the way from the lake at Ball Park Avenue to here at the treatment plant, for a distance of 1.6 miles. We also have a 1,500-foot pipe (16 inch diameter, with 12 inch inside diameter) going into the lake to get deeper, cleaner water.”
Tom Parks, the lead supervisor who has been with KCWD for 12 years, said that it took several months to install the raw-water line in the lake.
At Redbud Park Launching Facility next to the site for the pumping station, the three KCWD people pointed out the raw-water pipe. Parks told how the pipeline was floated to the intake structure in the lake, then attached to a drilling rod and pulled back to where the pump station will be.
Asked about the drain on the lake’s water level, Costner said, “In the summer, we pump 17 million gal per month. In winter, we pump about 8 million gal per month. We sent out notices to our customers to conserve water, implementing a water conservation plan to get the people to reduce their usage by 13%, which they have. I, personally, reduced my water usage by 50% by not growing a garden this year.”
When asked if they’d had any complaints about the project, Costner shook his head, “We did our environmental work to make sure we complied with all environmental regulations and the contractor has been working with the treatment plant neighbors to make sure the construction activities are not a nuisance. ”
Costner said, “The project should be done in August 2023. It will ensure the community has a reliable water source through flood, drought and fires for many years into the future. I am proud of all the hard work our crew, board members and office staff did to prepare for this project.”