Raw Water Pumping

• 2 PUMPS have a capacity of 930 gallons per minute each.
• 2 PUMPS have a capacity of 1,860 gallons per minute each.

Water is pumped from Schooner Creek at this pump station site. Only the amount of water necessary to satisfy the demand of the users is processed. Positioned at the foothills of the watershed, 4 pumps are available to transfer water to the water plant for processing. Care is taken to monitor the amount of water in the stream. A gauging station located upstream 2 miles has collected stream flow data for over 20 years. The water pumped is metered for flow and the flow rate is also controlled here. Very small concentrations of chemicals are introduced to assure safe drinking water. The water then travels to the grit removal basin.

Grit Removal

8-million gallons per day capacity

Schooner Creek water is pumped from the raw water pumping station through the rapid mix building to this structure. The creek has a natural abundance of heavy sand flowing within it as well as other debris. The speed of the water (velocity) is slowed down in the grit basin so that heavy sand like material will settle to the bottom and not travel on to the clarifiers. On a scheduled basis the basin is drained and the sand washed out. This basin is also used to direct flow to the three clairifiers as determined necessary by the operators.

Clarification

Three individual units with a capacity of 2100 gallons per minute each.

Up flow clarifiers use small plastic beads as the media to remove small particles and Turbidity. They are washed with raw water and compressed air to maximize resources. This process removes nearly 80% of the material. This enables The final filtration system to operate at a higher flow rate for a longer period of time. This increases efficiency, capacity and is more economical. Once the water passes through the clarifiers it travels on to the contact basins.

Contact Basins

Two basins provide for maximum disinfection of harmful organisms.

Chlorine is introduced to the water after the clarifiers. These basins are baffled with long concrete walls open at one point in each end. This forces the water to travel in an ‘S’ shape through the basin. This slows the water down and allows for greater time for the chlorine to come into contact with any harmful organisms and destroy them. After sufficient time for the chlorine to disinfect the water is then passed through the final filters.

Filtration

4 Multi-Media Gravity Filters

These filters remove bacteria, protozoan and viral organisms to provide safe drinking water. The filters, like the clarifiers are monitored for the time in service, clarity of water produced and amount of material captured. Water travels down through the media and enters a reservoir two stories below the treatment plant. These reservoirs are commonly called a "Clearwell" when they are in a treatment plant.

Clearwell Storage

A 225, 000 gallons reservoir is on site to provide a treated supply for the finished water pump intakes as well as a clarified water source to clean the filters when necessary and additional time for the disinfectant, chlorine, to assure the water is safe. The water enters the clearwell from the final filters through a complex piping system. The room that the pipes are in is known as the pipe gallery.

Finished Water Pumping

• 2 pumps 930 gallons/minute each
• 2 pumps 2082 gallons/minute each

There are 4 pumps that move the water to town. Two, 75 horsepower and two 200 Horsepower pumps capable of delivering 6 million gallons per day to the community. These pumps are referred to as High Service pumps because they lift the water 260 feet in elevation. Reservoirs are monitored for level in the control room. Only the amount of water necessary to fill them and satisfy the demands of the customers is pumped to them. Once the customers demand is met, water is continued to be pumped to fill the reservoirs. After the reservoirs are full the plant can be shut down for a brief period of time. If Schooner Creek is flowing with sufficient water for fisheries and recreational uses as well as customer demand, the plant can run at a higher rate. This minimizes the operators required attendance, reducing potential overtime. There are only three operators, Their normal working hours are 7:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. If the plant requires additional attention, the operators rely first on the 24 hour on call operator to take charge. The other two are on standby.

There are also two 75 horsepower pumps that are used to pump filtered water back through the filters in reverse, cleaning them when necessary. This water use is carefully monitored. There is documented history that establishes efficient water production compared to that which is necessary to wash the filters. Lincoln City's water plant typically requires approximately 3% of the processed water to maintain the filters to continue operation.

All of the pumps through out the plant are monitored by the instrumentation system and can be operated at the central control panel.

Auxiliary Power Generator

A 680 horsepower diesel generator with a capacity of 350 kilowatts is on standby to operate the plant in case of a power outage. The generator can supply power to 75% of the facility in case of emergency. Special equipment monitors the incoming power and automatically switches over to this generator if a problem occurs with the local power provider. Once the local power is restored the automatic equipment returns to the provider and shuts the generator off.