Water Quality
Background Information
The Swansea Water District has twelve (12) wells (10 active and 2 inactive) as well as one surface water source with three treatment plants distributed throughout its service area. Prior to the completion of the Desalination Project, the Swansea Water District struggled to meet water demand through the 1990’s and 2000’s. The primary focus financially of the District for the past few decades has been to establish a reliable water supply to meet the water demand.
Some of the Swansea Water District’s ground water sources have elevated concentrations of iron and manganese which were pumped into the distribution system for years without treatment. Now these sources receive treatment for Iron and Manganese except for the Midwood Wellfield. Our Midwood Wellfield has elevated levels of Iron and Manganese with no treatment for these constituents. Therefore, the District does not operate this wellfield unless a temporary supply is needed to meet demand during an unforeseen issue which has not occurred since 2016. However, accumulated solids remain in the distribution system piping where an effort to remove the solids continue with the District’s comprehensive water system flushing program throughout the year with notice provided through yard signs and other mediums.
The Swansea Water District has over 6,000 service connections along approximately 120 miles of watermain. The District, established in 1949, is fortunate to have a distribution system comprised of cement-lined cast iron (CICL) pipe and plastic (C900) pipe. Therefore, the mineral deposits on the interior walls of the pipe that have accumulated prior to treatment are readily available for transport under lower flow conditions due to the smooth nature of the pipe walls as opposed to un-lined pipes. These accumulated minerals are dislodged from the pipe wall under certain hydraulic disturbances such as hydrant use or a high service pump interruption. Once dislodged from the pipe wall, these minerals will travel with the flow of water and cause a water quality disruption as it travels through the distribution system.
What should I do if I experience discolored water?
If you experience discolored water, the first step is to determine if your hot water is discolored or your cold water is discolored. If only your hot water is discolored, then you may have an issue with your hot water heater, which may require service. If your cold water is discolored, then the issue may be a result of a disturbance in our distribution system and you should take the following steps:
Flush your water from a faucet that does not have a screen such as an outside spigot closes to your water meter. If it is still discolored after several minutes of flushing, you may need to wait until the sediment settles, and the water in the main clears. Then try flushing again. If it does not clear, please call our office at 508-672-9746.
Please report discolored water to the District by contacting us either by email at waterqualityissues@swanseawaterdistrict.com or by phone at 508-672-9746 during our regular scheduled business hours providing an address, timeframe the discolored water was experienced, and the severity. This information is very helpful to us as we log and track all water quality issues. This tracking is a tool we use to assess the situation as well as prioritize future water main cleaning activities. Please note that the Swansea Water District is not affiliated with the Town of Swansea. The Swansea Water District has its own Board of Water Commissioners which typically meet at the Swansea Water District office every 1st and 3rd Tuesday of the month at 6:00 pm.
When the water is discolored, it is recommended to not do laundry or run the hot water (to prevent sediment getting into your hot water tank). If it is necessary to do laundry, use stain remover or a regular detergent with the wash. Use of chlorine bleach is not recommended, as this could make the situation worse. We have a product available here at the Swansea Water District office to remove stains caused by discolored water free of charge.
What does the District do when a water quality interruption occurs?
As a reactive measure, the District will deploy personnel to an area experiencing a water quality disturbance and flow a hydrant at a low rate in order to evacuate the dislodged minerals prior to spreading further through the distribution system.
What is being done to proactively solve this issue?
At the District’s 68th Annual Meeting, article twelve passed which allocated $100,000 to meet the expense of performing Preliminary Engineering Studies. This particular appropriation has been used to conduct pipe cuts in several areas to assess solids accumulation on the interior of the pipe walls. (See pictures below) Also, this appropriation funded a system-wide hydraulic model analysis which is in its final stage of development. The hydraulic model will depict source tracing throughout the distribution system as well as flow velocities.
At the District’s 69th Annual Meeting, The District appropriated $100,000 to meet the expense of watermain cleaning and rehabilitation to address water quality in the distribution system. This appropriation founded the first two phases of water main cleaning using a technique called “ice pigging”. This procedure is an alternative to flushing mains, especially mains that are causing issues with discolored water. Ice pigging is a technique that combines the operational advantages of flushing with the cleaning impact of soft pigging. It uses less water than traditional cleaning techniques with minimal downtime. An ice slurry is pumped through a section of main in order to “clean” it. These efforts were focused in areas close to our water sources in an effort to clean water mains in the general direction of flow as future phases are proposed to move outwards in the distribution system. Ice Pigging Phase I took place in October 2018 and we successfully remove an estimated 265 pounds of sediment from the pipe walls. Ice Pigging Phase II took place in May 2019 and results are pending. (See map below for Ice Pigging locations)
At the District’s 70th Annual Meeting, Article Eight passed which allocated an additional $100,000 to meet the expense of watermain cleaning and rehabilitation to address water quality in the distribution system. This appropriation, available as of July 1, 2019 which is the start of the 2020 fiscal year, shall be used to deploy phases 3 and 4 of our water main cleaning efforts which shall take place this fall.
The Swansea Water District is currently aware of the situation occurring as it pertains to water quality and is working diligently to address the issue moving forward.
Pipe cuts were performed in areas with high volume complaints to see exactly how much
iron and manganese has accumulated on the pipe walls.
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