GREEN RIVER — Late Thursday afternoon, April 28, while performing routine checks on service lines, a dye test at the North Side Lift Station showed a possible small weld leak on the force main under the river. This underground line from the lift station near the Union Pacific Rail Road ties in near the horse corrals and then to the treatment plant.
The leak appears to be on the south side of the river and seems to occur following a back-flow scenario after the wet well has been pumped. The city reported the issue to the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality to let them know of the situation and the city’s short-long term fixes to mitigate the issue. The 12-inch metal line was put into service on the north side of town in 1962. When the North Side Lift Station was up-graded in the fall of 2017, the line had been inspected and found to be in good condition. Cathodic protection, a technique which is used to control the corrosion of metal surfaces, was completed as a preventative measure at that time.
Representatives from Green River Public Works Department contacted a company they use for water tank inspections and repair, who also serve and perform work for municipal water facilities and government agencies for underwater inspections, underwater pipelines and other marine related services.
It is expected they will be able to do a short-term fix on the welds until the pipe can be lined. Timing for both fixes are being worked on at this time and expected to start as soon as next week. The second phase of the repair will use a liner that is installed through a trenchless rehabilitation method which is used to repair existing pipelines. A cured-in-place pipe (CIPP) is a jointless, seamless pipe lining within an existing pipe, and once lined and cured, acts as a new pipeline. It is a choice solution and widely used rehabilitation method. It has a lower cost point than excavation and minimizes surface impacts.
City Administrator Reed Clevenger said the CIPP process for another line near the Game and Fish building was scheduled to be done this next fiscal year. He says the public works department will try and work that line in at the same time to save future mobilization costs that would most likely be incurred.
Clevenger said customers on the north side of town will not see any interruption of service during the repairs. Another update on the schedule of both phases will be distributed early next week.
Mountain States Pressure Service, Inc.
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