The city of Española has rescinded its water emergency and begun repairs on the tank that caused the city to enact its strictest water restrictions.
Repairs began Monday on Tank 2, which lost about one million gallons of water July 13 forcingthe city to enact a Stage 4 Water Emergency that was lifted July 23.
State 4 restrictions had placed severe limits on all municipal water users and included prohibitions on everything from washing cars to watering lawns. The city has now returned to Stage 3 restrictions, which allows for the watering of lawns, but only on certain days, and includes other restrictions.
The city was only able to lift the water restrictions after it installed a pipe that allowed water from Well 2, near Industrial Park Road, to bypass Tank 2 and be pumped directly into the system.
The city entered into a contract July 22 with D&R Tank Company, the original builders of the tank, to make the repairs necessary to return the tank to service for another 20 to 25 years.
The contract is for a little over $200,000 and will be paid from the three-eighths water and sewer gross receipts tax, Public Works Director Ben Ortega said. The city may recover about half that cost by means of a matching grant from the state Environment Department, which the city had received earlier, but had allowed to expire, Acting City Manager Veronica Albin said. To help finance Tank 2’s repairs they are applying to renew that match.
Ortega said repairs should be completed within 60 days at the latest, meaning the tank will be operational again on or around Sept. 25, missing the opening of Española Middle School by over a month. However, the school should still be able to open on schedule, with water from Well 2 being pumped directly into the water system.
The bypass pipe was installed July 21 and declared operational two days later. At that time, the Stage 4 water conservation restrictions that had been in place for the week prior were lifted since the city was back to meeting around 72 percent of its water demand. The loss of the tank had dipped the city’s water capacity to 45 percent; the city must declare a Stage 4 water emergency if its capacity dips below 50 percent.
The tank repairs will remove debris from the leak that caused Tank 2 to fail, and replace the tank floor with a thicker plate than had previously been used. D&R will also replace the tank’s cathodic protection system, which consists of a series of anodes and protects the tank interior from corrosion.
Tank 2, which provides water to the Industrial Park Road neighborhood, failed July 13, spilling its contents out through the bottom of the tank. Leaks caused by numerous holes in the tank floor caused the floor to wash out entirely, taking with it the underlying layer of sand and oil that is intended to prevent seepage into the concrete foundation.
Until the bypass pipe was completed, the Industrial Park Road neighborhood received water from Well 3, which has elevated arsenic levels that violate new Environmental Protection Agency standards established in January. A temporary variance was obtained from the state to allow the city to use that water. Prior to the emergency, and now that Well 2 is operational again, the arsenic levels are addressed by blending water from Well 3 with water from Well 2. The blending is intended to take place in a storage tank, but can be accomplished in the system until the repairs on Tank 2 are complete, Water Director Marvin Martinez said.