Water Tank Helps Solve Colorado Community's Water Woes

By Thomas Renner

Many Colorado communities are wrestling with an ongoing water crisis. The problems are extensive — climate change, drought and increased demand and other factors have played a role in severe shortages, which have challenged residents since the turn of the century.

Parker, a fast-growing suburb 24 miles from Denver, has not been immune to the state’s water challenges. A new 5-million-gallon tank and pipeline will help the community — which has seen its population triple since 2000 — meet the needs of its residents.

Parker Water & Sanitation District completed a 13-month, $14.5 million project that had been in the planning stages since 2008. The Canyons Water Tank & Pipeline project includes a 24-inch pipeline that runs 1,580 feet and connects to Case Rock Water’s WISE water line. The line will fill and empty the tank into the distribution system. A 16-inch drain line will run 2,993 feet and will be used infrequently to drain the tank when water quality does not meet standards or maintenance is required.

“We need to meet our expanding service area and continuing water demand,’’ said PWSD Project Engineer, Alex Sofranko. “It will provide additional storage capacity for the drinking water and will then go to our wellhouses and get pumped out to the tank and then into distribution.”

Project Challenges

PWSD worked with Providence Infrastructure Consultants (PIC), an engineering services firm that provides clients with planning and design services for treating and conveying raw, treated, waste and recycled water.

The primary challenge centered on constructing the new tank at the same elevation as an existing water tank in the district. PIC used triangulated satellite data to ensure accurate and matching elevations and proper functionality.

“Furthermore, excavation had to be made through 25 feet of rock at the selected site, which resulted in additional hurdles during construction, including developing noise mitigation measures to limit impacts to nearby residences,’’ PIC explained. “In addition to addressing difficult subsurface conditions, the tank’s overflow and drain facilities required detailed planning and unique design to minimize visual and operational impacts to adjacent properties.”

“We ended up hitting a lot more bedrock than we anticipated as they were excavating for the tank,’’ Sofranko explained. “That kind of drew the timeline out a little bit. They ended up having to crush a lot of that rock and haul it out with a truck, and that was a bigger expense than we anticipated.”

Water from the 200-foot diameter, 5-million-gallon potable water storage tank flows through a 24-inch diameter welded steel supply pipeline that allows the tank to fully integrate into PWSD’s distribution system. A nearby interconnect metering station was also incorporated into the system to facilitate water transfer between PWSD and neighboring Castle Rock Water.

Equipment Access

Four hatches from BILCO, a manufacturer of specialty access products, allow workers to monitor and repair equipment.

One hatch is 7 feet by 12 feet and the remainder are 5 feet by 9 feet. They allow access to water quality probes, a tank mixer and level sensors, among other components, which are vital to the performance of the system.

Tank mixers circulate water inside the tank to achieve water quality and consistent water temperature. By lowering the overall water temperature, mixing helps lower the tank headspace temperature and reduces corrosion rates. Mixers can also blend variations in water quality going into water tanks to deliver consistent, stable water quality.

“We have tank mixers that are able to keep 5 million gallons of water mixing, so we needed large hatches for installation,’’ Sofranko said. “Our contractor for this project selected the doors and they met the specifications for the project. We’ve used BILCO products in other projects and we’ve found them reliable.”

The hatches include compression spring operators for one-hand operation and automatic hold-open arms that lock the covers in the open position to ensure safe egress. They are also constructed with corrosion-resistant materials, an important consideration for projects that center on water management.

A BILCO KD door, which is used for applications where water or liquid infiltration is not a concern, was also included in the project. The 3-foot, 6-inch by 8-foot KD door also allows access to equipment.

BILCO’s manufacturer’s rep, Dalco Industries, provided the hatches for the subcontractor, Garney.

Rooted In Agriculture

Parker was founded in 1864 and incorporated in 1981 and is now home to many Denver commuters. The town was surrounded by vast open spaces when it was founded, and a small trading post that catered to traders and Native Americans served as the original hub.

Now it’s one of the fastest-growing communities in the nation, and community leaders are striving to deliver the infrastructure the community needs while maintaining the character that has lured so many newcomers.

“Our goal,’’ according to the Town’s 2035 Master Plan, “is to maintain the hometown feel that is important to our citizens.”

Thomas Renner writes on building, construction and other trade industry topics for publications throughout the United States.