Water blend project done
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Construction has been completed on a new pipeline between Safford’s Carrasco and Kempton wells that will help ensure a plentiful supply of water in the Gila Valley for years to come.
According to Safford Utilities Director Jay Howe, the Carrasco well has an enormous amount of water, but its arsenic level is on the cusp of the federal government’s maximum allowable amount of 10 parts-per-billion.
“There’s so much water there – it’s unbelievable,” Howe said.
By blending the Carrasco water with water from its Kempton well, the city will be able to utilize the resource that was shut down about six years ago when the government’s allowable arsenic level was lowered from 50 parts-per-billion. Howe said the arsenic level in water from the Kempton well is virtually zero.
“We’ll be able to blend that down to well below the maximum level and be able to supplement a minimum of 1,000 gallons per minute,” he said.
That production increase equates to approximately 1,440,000 gallons per day from the Carrasco well.
To blend the water, a pipeline made out of high-density polyethylene was connected from the Carrasco well to the pipeline that connects the Kempton well to the city’s 10-million-gallon storage tank at Discovery Park. The water is mixed together during its journey to the storage tank, and the arsenic level is diluted.
The HDPE pipe traverses about 1-1/4 miles and is joined together in 40-foot sections by heat fusion. Howe said the pipe will “last forever” and that the heat fusion connections are even stronger than the pipe itself.
The project cost $840,000 and was funded by the city’s $6 million loan from the Water Infrastructure and Finance Authority of Arizona for drinking water projects. Howe said the city did all of the work in-house, and the costs are reimbursable to the city’s maintenance and operations budget. He said the city was even able to help out some laid-off miners and hired six temporary construction workers to work on the project. Howe said he hopes to be able to continue to utilize the workers with other piping projects in the works.
The city is one-third of the way through completing plumbing projects to three new storage tanks. The new tanks are necessary to allow the city to refurbish its 10-million-gallon tank.
When all the projects are completed, Safford will have 17 million gallons of drinking water in storage tanks.
Howe thanked Safford’s mayor and City Council for having the vision to accept the city staff’s proposal and approve the blend line.
