By Corey Lewis - Daily World Writer,The Aberdeen Daily World , 6/14/2001
One of the two holding tanks at the Fairview Reservoir atop Arnold Hill in north Aberdeen sprung a leak earlier this week, sending about 600,000 gallons of water a day down the hill.
It wasn't the first time.
The aging reservoir, built in 1920, has been leaking nearly 300,000 gallons of water a day for nearly 20 years, said Public Works Director Larry Bledsoe. That's about one - tenth of the citywide demand of 3 million gallons per day, or enough to serve 1,200 households.
"We're leaking a lot of water," Water Systems Manager Mike Randich said. "It's a pretty substantial amount."
The city has temporarily shut down the leaking 9 million - gallon holding tank at the reservoir, but there is no danger of the city running low on water, Bledsoe said. The city still has a five - day supply in the adjacent, 15 - million - gallon holding tank. Randich added that the larger tank also leaks, but not substantial amounts.
There is no danger of the damaged holding tank breaking open or spilling such large amounts of water that homes or people are threatened, Randich said today.
"Any sign where we've had additional flows, that's a warning sign," he said. "We jump on it and fix it quickly."
Nearly 3 million gallons of water flow into the reservoir every day, Randich said.
The holding tanks at the Fairview Reservoir sit adjacent to each other on the north side of Ninth Avenue on Arnold Hill.
The leaking water isn't being allowed to saturate the hill. It's being channeled into a drainage system built below the reservoir and then sent into the city storm water system, Bledsoe explained.
Residents living near the reservoir alerted the city after noticing water flowing down the hillside. Randich said that occurred because the reservoirs drainage system had exceeded its capacity and they knew they had a big leak on their hands.
Bledsoe said the reservoir's age is the reason for the massive drain. An old patch made on the concrete basin of the smaller holding tank gave out, resulting in this week's big spill, Bledsoe said. The reservoir has been drained and the leak is being fixed. But he also said that water routinely escapes through the porous and cracked concrete.
"(The Water Department) periodically drains it and plugs up all the little holes they find," Bledsoe said. "Nobody's really sure where the leaks come from. Some of it may just be from water seeping through the old concrete. That's why you really can't seal it all the way without putting a liner in it."
The public works director said the city has already budgeted money to install a liner into both holding tanks next year. The liners and cover are part of $4 million in mandated improvement to the city's new $11 million water filtration plant.
Bledsoe told the City Council that, because of the leak, public works officials considered starting the job immediately rather than waiting until next year, but found out that the liner and cover won't be ready until November. So now, they've decided to patch it and stay on schedule.
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