News Briefs: Top Sewer and Water Official Resigns

In this week’s news briefs, customer complaints prompt a leadership change at the Pittsburgh Water & Sewer Authority, and construction on a massive pumping station is underway in southern Nevada.
News Briefs: Top Sewer and Water Official Resigns

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Jim Good, executive director of the Pittsburgh Water & Sewer Authority, resigned March 3. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that the agency has suffered ongoing billing problems that led to numerous customer complaints.

According to the report, some of the problems were blamed on new meter-interface units that operate on wireless technology, software issues and what Good deemed “human error.”

“Under my leadership, the PWSA has been transformed into a performance-based organization focused on stakeholder needs,” Good said in a statement. “Everything the PWSA needs to be a great water utility is in place. I wish my colleagues and friends at the Authority, its board and the administration nothing but the best in their efforts to build on this legacy and ensure the its transformation is successfully completed.”

David Donahoe, who served for 20 years as director of the Allegheny Regional Water District, has been named interim director.

Source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Agency Breaks Ground on Low Lake Level Pumping Station

The Southern Nevada Water Authority has begun construction on a low lake level pumping station following completion of Intake No. 3 — SNWA’s deepest water intake in Lake Mead.

Development of the pumping station, which is scheduled for completion in 2020, consists of constructing a 26-foot-diameter access shaft more than 500 deep. At the bottom of the shaft, a 12,500 square foot underground cavern, known as a forebay, will be excavated. The forebay will connect with 34 vertical shafts — each 500 feet and 6 feet in diameter — to accommodate the station’s 34 submersible pumping units. From the forebay, water will be pumped to SNWA’s water treatment facilities.

Drought has caused Lake Mead’s water level to fall nearly 130 feet over the past 16 years. Together, Intake No. 3 and the low lake level pumping station will enable the agency to pump water from much deeper within the lake. The new intake system allows SNWA to maintain access to its primary water supply if the lake’s water level drops too low for water to pass through Hoover Dam to downstream users in Nevada, Arizona, California and Mexico.

Source: SNWA

California Falls Short of Water Savings Target
Officials announced that water use for California cities and towns was down 17.1 percent in January, dropping the state’s cumulative urban water savings to 24.8 percent. It’s the first time that number has fallen below the state-mandated 25 percent, reports the Modesto Bee.

The State Water Resources Control Board reported last month, however, that California was 96 percent of the way toward its goal of saving 1.2 million acre-feet by the end of the month, which it called an unprecedented conservation achievement.

Source: Modesto Bee



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