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Article published Nov 1, 2007 Alcoa begins pumping
By Iva Butler of The Daily Times Staff
Alcoa began pumping about 9 million gallons of water a day Wednesday from its new secondary intake on Little River.
Three large green diesel pumps, one for backup, located south of Four Corners Market on the banks of Little River, are pumping 6,000 gallons a minute through a 24-inch ductile iron pipe drawing from a floating intake device off Williams Mill Road.
The line runs along the banks of the river and dumps the water back into Little River above the Alcoa raw water intake structure, which is located off Sam Houston School Road.
The secondary emergency intake was installed when Little River dropped to historically low levels.
Alcoa had planned on installing the secondary intake in the future, but the drought made it imperative that it be done immediately.
At the Maryville water plant on Sevierville Road water has dropped as low as 29 cubic feet per second (cfs), significantly less than the 37 cfs at which the city was to stop pumping, according to its state permit.
Water flow at the Alcoa Water Treatment Plant had fallen as low as 20 cfs, the point where the city is required to stop pumping.
On Wednesday afternoon the flow at Alcoa’s plant was 43 cfs and at Maryville’s plant was 39 cfs.
“Alcoa started pumping some water Monday, but not all the valving was in place to purge the line,” said Alcoa Public Works Director Kenny Wiggins. “Late Tuesday we got all the air release valves in place.”
“The line is set up to pump 12 million gallons a day, but now we’re only pumping 9 million gallons,” Wiggins said.
Pam Arnett, public information officer for Maryville, said the city is now buying 3 million gallons a day, 1.2 million of which is purchased from South Blount Utility District.
Maryville had purchased 250,000 gallons from Alcoa as of Wednesday afternoon, Arnett said. They may purchase more after the testing is done on the lines to see how well the system is working.
The new intake structure is a temporary floating device placed in a deep pool near the Rockford dam on Little River. The new raw water transmission pipeline was laid on top of the ground for expediency of construction. Once the flows in Little River are stabilized to sustainable levels, the new pipeline will be taken out of service and buried in place for a more permanent installation. Following that, evaluation will begin on a permanent intake structure, according to a news release from the Alcoa public information officer and special projects coordinator Tricia Tipton.
While water flow downstream of the Alcoa intake increased about 13 cubic feet per second and out of the range requiring water use restrictions, Alcoa and Maryville water customers are reminded that the drought continues. Overall, the river flow has been dropping and probably will continue to drop until the next rainfall. No rain is forecast for at least the next seven days.
Efforts made by citizens and businesses who consume water from the both utilities are greatly appreciated, but due to the continuing conditions, customers of both utilities are asked to continue practicing water conservation measures to help avoid the reinstatement of water restrictions and to reduce the water demands on Little River and its ecosystem, according to Tipton. At this time neither city is mandating any further measures, however, both constantly evaluate the steps taken based on river flow, rainfall, and demand.
Alcoa City Manager Mark Johnson said, “This project could not have been completed so quickly without the joint cooperation of the engineering staffs of the cities of Alcoa and Maryville. These groups worked together flawlessly to get the job done. We also owe a debt of gratitude to the regulatory agencies who worked closely with the cities to obtain the necessary permits, the Army Corps of Engineers, Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, and the Tennessee Valley Authority; Fulghum, MacIndoe, & Associates; Morgan Contracting; and the various land owners over which the water line lies.”