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The Altoona Water Authority recently saved an estimated $50,000 by having its own employees instead of a contractor replace a sanitary-storm sewer "pinch valve" located outside the left field fence at the Juniata Civics baseball field on Broadway.
The valve restricts the flow of water during storms to prevent overloading downstream, forcing the excess water to drop into a nearby underground tank, from which its pumped into a bypass pipe that takes it around the bottleneck area to a point beyond the mainline railroad tracks, where there is a larger pipe that can handle the flow.
The valve was malfunctioning because the rubber bladder inside that contracts and expands pneumatically to open and close the valve was old and fatigued and was not contracting fully, which meant that even in modestly wet conditions, the valve unnecessarily forced water into the tank, causing the pumps to run more than they should, said Brennen Lane, wastewater treatment plant supervisor, and Brad Kelly, director of wastewater operations.
"Ninety-nine percent of the time" the pumps shouldn't be running and gravity should be moving the flow down the line toward the Easterly Sewer Treatment Plant, Lane said.
The pinch valve and bypass pump setup works automatically, based on a combination of electronic and mechanical controls, Lane said.
The pinch valve and bypass line help protect against flooding in the constricted area, according to staff engineer Jim Potopa.
The work of replacing the valve and testing the new one required four employees working a total of 50 hours over four days, Lane said.
The authority considered replacing only the bladder on the 30-year-old valve, which by itself would have cost $80,000 to purchase, Lane said.
The authority decided to replace the entire 2,200 pound mechanism, because its purchase price of $120,000 was low-enough to make that more cost-effective, Lane said.
There was no interruption in service during the replacement project, as the pump station handled the entire flow throughout, Lane said.
Mirror Staff Writer William Kibler is at 814-949-7038.