Water Leak Repair

C&E Trenching arrived yesterday morning and began work on uncovering/locating the potable water leak. Ultimately, the leak was in very close proximity to where I first noticed the persistently wet pavement. It was directly beneath secondary high voltage lines that feed the chiller yard among other things. The cause of the leak ended up being a small crack impregnated with a rock near a smashed/deformed section of pipe. There is no clear explanation as to how the pipe was damaged in the first place. The trenching team suggested that the pipe may have been damaged just before/during installation. Interestingly enough, this section of pipe was found to have two prior repairs made to it as seen in the photo with the two pipe couplers right next to each other. Based on the date printed on the pipe, these repairs were made during construction some time in 96'.

Important note: with the potable supply valved out at the water room, I replenished the holding tank to a level of 57.8" read at FMCS. Once the pipe repair had been made, I reintroduced the potable supply and the tank level fell to 52.5". In conjunction with this, the Magemter gauge prior to line repair read xx6171 gallons. Post repair the gauge read xx6460. However, I don't have much confidence in the Magmeter gauge readout in this scenario as the line turbulence causes some egregious (-250gpm+) reverse flow readings while the line recharges.

After repair, and keeping staff water usage suspended, I held the line pressure at some 80psi for 30 minutes or so and observed no leaks. There were also no drops in system pressure nor was there any flow readout at the magmeter gauge - both important and reassuring improvements.

R. McCarthy T. Guidry