City hires contractor to search for clog in water intake pipes
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ALPENA -- People in Alpena depend on an intake pipe in Thunder Bay for water, but officials believe one of a pair of openings that allows water into the line is clogged.
Divers contracted by the city government are inspecting the pipe in question this week to see where the blockage is and how it can be cleared.
On Monday, the Alpena Municipal Council voted to spend up to $200,000 to have the water intake line at the city water plant inspected for a suspected blockage.
The water plant typically closes the external line -- which goes 2,000 feet into Lake Huron -- for the winter months and during those months utilizes a lift that is 1,000 feet from shore. The internal riser is opened to prevent interruption of water supply by ice or treatment concerns created by excess sediment in the water coming into the plant.
The clogging of the pipe will not impede water supply to customers or the safety of the water, City Engineer Steve Shultz said.
After attempting a few different methods to open the external intake, city staff met to discuss options and develop a course of action to inspect the pipe to determine what caused the blockage, Shultz said.
A contractor, Michels Construction Inc., will have a diver in Alpena this week to visually inspect the line for a clog.
If the diver finds debris in the line, the company will attempt to clean the first 50 feet from both the internal and external riser pipes, hoping that will open the line enough to clear the obstruction and remedy the situation. If the diver does not find a blockage, the crew may have the option of sending a remote camera up the line to evaluate the situation.
"Sometimes, we can dislodge the sand and stuff that comes in by simply blowing water back out, but we weren't able to do that this time," Shultz said. "The crew we have in now will figure out what is exactly in there and use whatever means we can to clean it out."
The divers will only be able to visually inspect the 50 feet of pipe from the first and second intake points. If they can't detect the plug, they will use a special camera to inspect farther into the pipe, Shultz said.
Shultz said that, because only a portion of the pipe is blocked, water is still flowing freely into the interior opening and he doesn't anticipate any disruption of service. He said that, although it is unlikely, if the nearest section of pipe were to become clogged, there would be no way for water to come into the plant and production would be stalled.
"If both of them failed, it wouldn't be good, but this is exactly the reason we have two locations to pull water," he said. "If it were to plug up between the inland intake and the shoreline, then there would also be issues."
The money the city used for the inspection and repair comes from the city's water fund.
Shultz said the scope of work to find the plug and clear the line will determine the cost.
"They will do whatever means they can to save us money, but we have some money built into that $200,000, but it really comes down to what they find," he said.
The crews, who are using a large barge parked just out front of Starlite Beach, were beginning to work on Monday. Shultz said the barge is slated to be here for about a week, so finding the issue quickly is important.
"We need to figure it out," he said. "It is something we need to work on and get fixed."