The large truck with a humming trailer sits on Harris Road ready to work. The mission: clear naturally occurring minerals – iron and manganese – that have built up in water lines and caused discolored water. The goal: clear the lines without wasteful flushing that could send thousands of gallons of water rushing down the street.
The area being flushed is the San Andres Water System, part of the former Jornada Water Company (JWC), purchased by LCU two years ago. “It hasn’t ever been fully flushed,” explains LCU Water Administrator, Adrienne L. Widmer, P.E. “Now LCU is in the process of rehabilitating and upgrading the 50-year-old system.”
LCU contracted with ValveTek to use the patented Neutral Output-Discharge Elimination System (NO-DES) technology to filter out the minerals that can discolor water. To do this, a temporary water line is attached to two fire hydrants about 5 houses apart; water is forced through the intricate setup of pumps, valves, and filters in the bed of the truck.
Deyvian Hines, ValveTek crew chief, checks the readings of the NO-DES system. “We’re forcing water into the machine at a very high pressure through multiple micron filters,” he explains. “In short order, we begin to see the values of the contaminants decrease and then can immediately replace the discolored water from the system with clear filtered water.”
Widmer notes, “The huge benefit to using NO-DES is that there is no water waste like there is when we flush hydrants to clear lines. We’re using the NO-DES to remove the iron and manganese that residents have been experiencing.”
It’s by using innovative technology like NO-DES that LCU customers regain water quality without large, area-wide interruptions. “We’re able to do this work in sections, without shutting down the water to the whole neighborhood,” says Hines.
“Our customers are our first priority,” explains Widmer. “We try to do this during the hours where people may be at work and when they get home, they’ll notice clearer water.”
Anyone who continues to have discolored water, please call LCU Emergency Dispatch 24-hours a day at (575) 526-0500.
Submitted by Las Cruces Utilities. You can reach Las Cruces Utilities at 528-3500 from 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Las Cruces Utilities provides GAS – WATER – WASTEWATER – SOLID WASTE services to approximately 100,000 Las Cruces residents and businesses.