Regional Groundwater Project Begins Construction at Orchard Supply & Hardware Site Next Week

The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission’s Regional Groundwater Storage and Recovery (GSR) project anticipates starting construction on approximately Monday, September 28. Major construction activities will include drilling a new groundwater well to a depth of 440 feet deep, installing 790 feet of pipeline and building a new well station near the Orchard Hardware & Supply store in Millbrae. Once drilling begins, this activity will last 24-hours a day for up to one month.

24-hour well drilling work will occur continuously

for up to one month inside the blue rectangle pictured above. 

To minimize noise impacts, the contractor will monitor noise levels and install sound blankets to ensure it does not exceed the local noise ordinance. During night work, the contractor will rotate construction lighting to direct it away from homes near well drilling work.

Questions?
For more information about this project, please call the 24-hour answering service at (866) 973-1476, or visit the Project webpage at sfwater.org/GSR.

Construction Notice: Temporary Trail Closure in Junipero Serra Park

What: Temporary Trail closure in Junipero Serra Park east of Crystal Springs Terrace Apartments (2000 Crystal Springs Road, San Bruno) for pipeline work

When: September 21 – 25, 2015, 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

Why: Crews will remove earth from on top of water pipelines and inspect them in this area

How: Crews will use large earthmoving equipment

What to Expect:

• Temporary trail closure in the area 
• Noise from large equipment, a small amount of dust in the area 
• Water Department crews will be working in the area 

Thank you for your patience!


Contact us by calling our 24-hour Toll-Free line (866) 973-1476 or visiting www.sfwater.org/peninsula

Mobilization & Construction Activities Begin at Lake Merced Golf Club GSR Site

This week, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission's (SFPUC) Regional Groundwater Storage and Recovery (GSR) Project started mobilization and construction activities to prepare for drilling a new groundwater well that will be 620 feet deep at Lake Merced Golf Club in Daly City (please reference the map on the back for the exact location).

Once well drilling begins, work will occur continuously. To minimize noise impacts, the contractor will monitor noise levels and install sound blankets to ensure the levels do not exceed the local noise ordinance. During night work, the contractor will rotate construction lighting to direct it away from homes near the well drilling work.

24-hour well drilling work at Lake Merced Golf Club anticipates starting 

next week inside the blue rectangle pictured above. 

Once well drilling begins, work will occur continuously for up to one month. To minimize noise impacts, the contractor will monitor noise levels and install sound blankets to ensure the levels do not exceed the local noise ordinance. During night work, the contractor will rotate construction lighting to direct it away from properties near well drilling activities.

For more information about the GSR Project, please be sure to subscribe to this blog, visit sfwater.org/GSR or by calling us at (866) 973-1476.

Heat and High Fire Danger!

You do not need us to tell you that the weather has been unseasonably hot. Daytime temperatures are 10 to 20 degrees above seasonal averages throughout the Bay Area, according to the National Weather Service.  

Because of the high heat and low moisture, our Natural Resources and Lands Management Division has issued a high fire alert for the Peninsula /Alameda Watershed lands that we own. 

If you are driving in the area, please remember:

• Do not pull your car over to the side of the road in the grass. The heat from the underside of your car could quickly spark a grassfire. This is all too common.
• Please do not smoke, hold lit cigarettes out the window, or dispose of cigarette butts onto the side of the road.
• Please do not operate machinery in dry grasses that might generate sparks, including mowers.

For tips on how to stay safe in this heat, please visit the National Weather Service’s website: http://www.nws.noaa.gov/om/heat/index.shtml.

Please stay hydrated and stay cool out there!

Please do not operate machinery that might generate sparks, including mowers.

Labor Day Holiday Construction Hours

PPSU Project Will Close Whitman Way for Pipeline Work

Beginning as early as Thursday, September 3, Whitman Way will be closed between Shelter Creek Lane and Courtland Drive from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. for back filling and repaving across Whitman Way as part of the Peninsula Pipeline Seismic Upgrade (PPSU) Project. Whitman Way will reopen at the end of each work day at 3:30 p.m. 

Whitman Way will be closed during the following time periods: 

· Thursday, September 3 and Friday, September 4

· Tuesday, September 8 through Friday, September 11 

· Monday, September 14 through Friday, September 18

During this closure, all traffic will be detoured to San Bruno Avenue via Shelter Creek Lane, Madison Avenue and Crestmoor Drive. For more information and updates about this closure, please call the 24-hour answering service at (866) 973-1476 or subscribe to this blog to receive project updates.

The full closure of Whitman Way anticipates starting as early as Thursday, September 3 inside the orange rectangle pictured above.

The PPSU project includes seismically upgrading three Hetch Hetchy regional water delivery pipelines located in Northern San Mateo County. This project will ensure the pipelines can continue to deliver water to customers after an emergency. 

Treatment of Locally Stored Peninsula Water Keeps Quality High

The just upgraded Harry Tracy Water Treatment Plant features a new and seismically resistant 11-million-gallon treated water reservoir, along with three new ozone generators and five new filters. 

The improved San Bruno facility now has the capacity to provide 140 million gallons of water per day for 60 days within 24 hours of a major earthquake—enough to supply nearly one million people during that time.

On an average day, Harry Tracy treats about 35 million gallons of water that have been pumped up from storage in the Peninsula Watershed reservoirs below. Within only an hour or so, the raw water undergoes disinfection by ozone, isolation of the solids, filtration and finally post-treatment at the new treated water reservoir. 

The first stop is the ozone station, where this oxidant quickly eats away bacteria and other microbes along with inactivating viruses. Ozone also aids in taste and odor control.

Chemicals are now added to induce particles in the water to coagulate. As the water circulates through a series of rectangular open-air basins, the solids keep merging into increasingly larger clumps called “floc.” 

These are removed in filtration, when the flocculated water passes through two layers-- anthracite (a hard natural goal) and then sand.  (The five newly installed filters raise the plant’s total number to 15.)

Finally, the filtrated water goes to our new treated water reservoir for fluoridation, disinfection, and corrosion control. Now it is ready for distribution to customers in northern San Mateo and San Francisco counties.

The new treated water reservoir rests on 50- to 70-foot-deep pilings, and the entire plant is now capable of withstanding a 7.9 magnitude earthquake.