The “ice pigging” process, activated on Feb. 10, is continuing, targeting the most affected by discolored water and sediment.
Suez North America is the company contracted to perform “ice pigging” of the main water lines along Old Canoe Creek Road. Ice pigging is now being done in residential neighborhoods located between Old Canoe Creek Road and Canoe Creek Road. Currently, ice pigging is scheduled to continue through the third week of March and the city is in discussions with the company to extend the contract for additional work.
Ice pigging is an innovative process developed in Europe; it completely cleans the inside of a water line through the process of injecting a thick slurry of ice into a segment of a water line through a fire hydrant. The slurry moves along the inside of the pipe pushing out everything in the line ahead of the slurry (pig) through another fire hydrant downstream.
“At this point, we are guardedly optimistic that this effort will prove successful,” said Brian Wheeler, interim utilities director. “We are seeing very good results at this early phase and that’s very encouraging:’
Prior to the start of this process the water storage tanks at Water Plant No. 4, where the issue began, were cleaned to ensure that sediment that had accumulated in the tanks was removed.
The polishing filters at Water Treatment Plant No. 4 have been in operation since early December. The finished water from the plant is not discolored and does not contain any sediment particles.
Working closely with the contractor, the water plant staff continues to monitor the systems to ensure they are in proper working order.
With the water treatment plant operating properly the focus is on removing the accumulated sediment and discoloration from the distribution system with the ice pigging.
