News Update
Rowlett City Council awards contract to develop upper pressure water plane
By Kenny Green, kgreen@starlocalnews.com
One of the biggest issues the city of Rowlett has struggled with is the lack of water pressure to certain areas of the city. The city hired a consultant to address the issue and it was determined that due to the city's topography, a dual pressure plane system was the only solution.
"In 2010, engineering brought forth a plan to remedy low pressures in portions of the city. After that plan was presented and improved we went back and constructed a temporary upper pressure plane to get the worst areas in better conditions," said Tom Harris, city engineer.
The city completed the interim upper pressure plane in 2012.
The city council approved a contract to begin the creation of a permanent solution in December with the awarding of the design contract for a new elevated storage tank.
Part of the changes will look at the downtown redevelopment area to determine what improvements might need to be made. The consultants have been tweaking the original plan since 2010. As part of the changes to the plan, the new design will utilize existing infrastructure. Some of the previous planning for the upper pressure plane had some of the city's assets going away.
Another change to the plan reduced the size of the secondary plane from the original design. The changes to the plan will reduce the cost of creating the upper pressure plane by $3 million.
Councilman Chris Kilgore asked what the cost would be to increase the pressure to 50 - 60 PSI. The city's consultant indicated it would be significantly more expensive but could not provide a dollar amount.
"We are balancing the pressure on existing infrastructure that is taxed at 45 PSI. I think that is one of the reasons you are seeing the size of the second pressure plane shrink. This meets the TCEQ standard by above 10 percent," said Lynda Humble, city manager.
On Tuesday, Feb. 5, the council approved a contract to allow Freese and Nichols Inc. to continue with the next phase of the project. The next phase is to design and engineer improvements for the upper pressure plane, make improvements to the existing Rowlett Road Pump Station and design a 24-inch water transmission line to be used as part of the lower pressure plane.
"In 2010, engineering brought forth a plan to remedy low pressures in portions of the city. After that plan was presented and improved we went back and constructed a temporary upper pressure plane to get the worst areas in better conditions," said Tom Harris, city engineer.
The city completed the interim upper pressure plane in 2012.
The city council approved a contract to begin the creation of a permanent solution in December with the awarding of the design contract for a new elevated storage tank.
Part of the changes will look at the downtown redevelopment area to determine what improvements might need to be made. The consultants have been tweaking the original plan since 2010. As part of the changes to the plan, the new design will utilize existing infrastructure. Some of the previous planning for the upper pressure plane had some of the city's assets going away.
Another change to the plan reduced the size of the secondary plane from the original design. The changes to the plan will reduce the cost of creating the upper pressure plane by $3 million.
Councilman Chris Kilgore asked what the cost would be to increase the pressure to 50 - 60 PSI. The city's consultant indicated it would be significantly more expensive but could not provide a dollar amount.
"We are balancing the pressure on existing infrastructure that is taxed at 45 PSI. I think that is one of the reasons you are seeing the size of the second pressure plane shrink. This meets the TCEQ standard by above 10 percent," said Lynda Humble, city manager.
On Tuesday, Feb. 5, the council approved a contract to allow Freese and Nichols Inc. to continue with the next phase of the project. The next phase is to design and engineer improvements for the upper pressure plane, make improvements to the existing Rowlett Road Pump Station and design a 24-inch water transmission line to be used as part of the lower pressure plane.
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