Jensen Continues Electrical Upgrades
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Work on the next phase of upgrades to the electrical system at the Jensen Water Treatment Plant is moving forward, thanks to the Board’s recent approval of a $14.78 million construction contract.
The upgrades will bolster Jensen’s reliability by replacing aging equipment – much of which is nearly 50 years old - and providing redundancy in the system.
Project manager
Jeany Wong
, an engineer in the Engineering Services Group, told the Board's Engineering and Operations Committee the planned work, “will eliminate single component power failures that could disable the plant’s operation.” See
Jeany's
full presentation
here
.
Stage 2 will upgrade two unit power centers and their associated motor control centers. Two full-plant system shutdowns and about 40 partial shutdowns will be necessary to switch over to the new electrical system.
During these outages, Metropolitan staff will de-energize some electrical equipment while the contractor reconfigures the power feed to the chemical feed equipment, water treatment systems and pumps.
Stage 1 was completed last year and provided electrical infrastructure for the new solar power plant and future electrical upgrades.
The Jensen plant is located in Granada Hills. It treats water from the State Water Project for the west side of Metropolitan’s distribution system. Placed into service in 1972, it has a capacity of up to 750 million gallons per day.
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A Year of Met Stepping Up to Challenges in Big Ways
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“Remarkable."
It’s a word that describes the past year, according to GM
Jeffrey Kightlinger
who addressed employees at last week's annual State of Metropolitan.
The event started with a short
video
, showing some recent accomplishments.
After describing how Metropolitan is uniquely poised to approach big challenges, develop solutions and provide equity for its members,
Kightlinger
spoke about last year's progress on Delta conveyance, recycled water, the Colorado River, local water projects and the Climate Action Plan.
Kightlinger
also spoke about the tremendous work by employees on about 400 capital improvement projects and dealing with emerging contaminants so Metropolitan and its member agencies continue to deliver safe water to Southern Californians.
Metropolitan will have a record 4 million acre-feet of water in storage at the end of this year. And last year marked the lowest water sales since the early 1980s -- about 1.42 million acre-feet -- due to the relatively cool and wet winter, changing demographics and conservation.
Kightlinger
acknowledged that low sales do impact the District's budget, but the water stored in reserves is like ‘money in the bank’ for the future.
Asked about Twitter, the GM said social media is one of many tools available to tell the Metropolitan story. “Water is such an important issue and social media is one way to get to the public directly.”
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The Engineering Boys Are Back in Town
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“I’ve got mosquito bites on 90 percent of my body,” claims
Hunter Schneider,
while his co-workers and friends
Andrew Hoeschele, Scott Radel
and
Fraser Wyatt
laugh in response.
While mosquitoes, freeze-dried foods, and dealing with high altitudes are enough to deter most, a few of the guys in Engineering Services know these are things you have to endure to experience some of the best parts of nature – swimming in freezing lakes, fishing where few others have fished before, and crossing snow-covered streams.
A few weeks ago, they backpacked from Lake Sabrina to Hungry Packer Lake in the John Muir Wilderness. The group has made it a tradition to take a weekend journey at least once a year.
Watch a short slideshow of their trip highlights
here
.
Fraser
purchases the permits (he tries to pick places the group has not been before) which can often be a challenge since permits need to be obtained six months in advance. They plan logistics and coordinate over a series of lunches until the big weekend arrives. “For these trips, we depend on each other and hold each other accountable,”
Scott
says.
When they’re not in the High Sierras, rock climbing or snowboarding, they are busy helping keep Met's systems flowing smoothly.
Andrew
is working on the Calabasas PCCP repair project,
Scott
works on the Red Mountain Power Plant refurbishment,
Hunter
can be found working on the Diemer West Basin rehabilitation, and
Fraser’s
focus includes the Gene Wash Reservoir discharge valve replacement.
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