Please describe a really bad experience you've had on the job. What happened? How was the situation resolved/handled? What advice would you give your fellow operators to help them avoid or deal with a similar situation?

Folks the idea here is to share solutions. If you have had some problem with your system, or even with your town board, a contractor, or state agency, it's likely someone else will have the same issue someday and you might help them deal with that situation with less headache, time, and possibly even money, if you came up with a solution that someone else can use, identify the mistakes you made that they should avoid, and you are willing to share your knowledge. This forum is about community. There is strength in numbers and we can all learn from each other, we just have to communicate.

Lightening strike on June 9, 2011 at 0100 took out Omni-Trol D620 contorl panel, inline pH meter, filter unit 2 Hach turb meter, and telemetry at the stand pipe and receiver at the station. Computer, fax, printer, copier all off. Had to press GFI on receptacle to get these to come up. Then I saw the SCADA was down. Wiped out all recorded data needed for MORs. Called engineer, electrician (local and uneducated about specific valves etc I wanted checked), called compliance officer, insurance company,telemetry specialist, back up operator, (who has over thirty years experience) and prayed. Once I got some info and manually got pumps running and manually tested FCR, pH, turbidity on both units and effluent, I called chairman to let him know what happened. I yarned the pH meter off the wall and shipped back to see if it could be repaired or had to be replaced. It took three weeks but I got it back, repaired for about $600.00. Set up, on 6/10/10 formes to record NTU for raw, both filter units, effluent, pH, FCR, and treated water flow off Sensus meter as there are no other flow meters at this treatment plant. (Note: it's Summer, and our service locations double and water use more than doubles). I live an hour away and the cost of gas to drive back and forth 7 days a week was using 4/5 of my pay check, so on July 6th I moved into the plant and have been staying here 24/7 since. It is now 8/07/11 and the hold up is the insurance company. They will not give written approval that they will pay for parts and labor needed to get this place up and running on automatic stating they need three outside professional written confirmations that it was in fact a lightening strike and where the lightening came in at. I keep a daily log, too long to post here and hope tomorrow, Monday, they will respond to my terse letter I faxed. Any advise? More problems have come up such as low pressure (gravity fed from plant) at first house. Hard time keeping standpipe full. Service pumps run more than 12 hours a day to just keep up. marie

Marie, I sent an email out to several folks I either work with now or have worked with in the past with your forum post included, asking for help/advice. Here is the first response I got, from Wyoming Rural Water's Source Water Specialist. I hope this helps, I'll also post anything else I get back.

"I know how frustrating this is. I didn't have as much taken out as you have.
I was handcuffed to the system for about 3 months running it by hand. My problem wound up being a grounding fault, but I have fought lightning strikes several times too. The hurdle was getting the electician back who had caused the problem. In retrospect, I would have gone around him. There are several components to this challenge and waiting on the insurance is not going to solve any of them. ...insurance and their glass high rises full of lawyers...I'm not sure even God loves them.

Was there lightning/surge protection on any of this (including extensive grounding on and around these components)? If not, there needs to be. I think there needs to be a capable, honest electrical automation electrician brought in to make repairs and add protection to these components. In the process, the electrician will probably find the evidence you need for the insurance company. I would document. Document, document. Equipment, time, and parts. Get the thing up and running and protected, and then deal with the insurance company. I would notify them that you believe they are liable to pay, and that you can wait no longer. The costs are only increasing as the time required to tend it is significant.

Call other systems in the area and ask for references of people they use.
The right person is out there, and I'd hire him/her and fix it if I had to borrow the money, and then deal with insurance.

Dan Chamberlain
WARWS Source Water"

Marie, I got another response from a Colorado operator. See below:

"Marie, sounds like you've been put through the wringer.

I have discussed this with Colorado Rural Water's circuit rider and here are some ideas.
First and foremost, get your system up and running - with lightning protection. Save parts and document with pictures and or videos. Hopefully you have part numbers and manufacturers names. Each manufacturer should have a web site with a telephone number for emergencies such as yours. Contact them and they should be able to advise you on repairs to their parts and may be of help in documenting damages. Contact your state's Rural Water Association. Can they send out a circuit rider or at least provide you with some suggestions or names. Contact surrounding water systems. Can they provide help, or at least provide suggestions or names. Can you set up some sort of mutual aid pact for the future. Ask for the names of their insurance companies, how have their companies responded? You might want to switch to one of them. To keep your insurance company's attention and help prevent future occurrences, file a complaint with your states Insurance Commission. This is an obvious emergency situation. Why hasn't an adjuster been dispatched? Why are they making you adjust your own claim. File a complaint with the Better Business Bureau also.
Hope something here helps. Best of luck and keep us posted.

Bob Hastings
Colorado Rural Water Member"

Thanks so much for the input. Many suggestions have been implemented and notes in SOP and Emergency Response Plan. I didn't know there was a state insurance commission! I do believe a different insurance company will be hired once this is done and over. Knowing others have survived this keeps me strong. I tried to get the person's name, phone number, e-mail at the home office from the adjuster, just so I could have a talk with them, but the adjuster said he'd e-mail them and have them call me. Probably a better avenue as I doubt they will call and I don't know if I could remain calm and polite. I did call my Rural water association to ask for an advocate re: insurance. It did prompt the adjuster. I'm also finding three calls a day to the adjuster has stirred more headway. Can't get a loan as we are loan poor from 15 years ago. Checking the clear well level, standpipe level and taking samples every 2 hours assures SAFE quality and quantity water. Electricians are lined up, have sent their est to adjuster. We are waiting for the ok so we can purchase the parts, which are in stock and accessible. but the district doesn't have even 4k at the end of the year left over so we can't just get the parts and HOPE to get reimbursed. This is the end of week 10. I'll post more as it goes. Thanks again so much. marie

I am currently undergoing my worst experience as a water system manager.
For the past 10 years I have been operating a small groundwater system consisting of 70 taps for the Homeowners Association where I live. We have two deep wells into two separate confined aquifers. For the sake of simplicity I will call them my winter and summer well. The winter well is 500' deep and only produces 15 gpm. Therefore I only use it in the winter when demand is low. The summer well is 1200' deep and produces 175 gpm. I use this well in the summer when demand is high. For the past 10 years I have been alternating these wells so that each well and it's aquifer get approximately 6 months of use and 6 months of rest and recovery per year. Last year our winter well became unusable. As a result the our summer well has been in continuous use since April of 2010 without it's usual winter rest. I have a unique geological situation where both confined aquifers contain water untouched by man for thousands of years. Unfortunately under this same geological setting natural recharge will also take thousands of years. We are in effect mining water. Our water quality standards are based more on what happened thousands of years ago than today.
Although we are required to chlorinate and are bound by the same groundwater rules as everyone else up to now chlorination has been just as effective in oxidizing out miner amounts iron as it is a disinfectant. Two weeks ago I was completely taken by surprise. The amount of iron suddenly and unexpectedly sharply increased from lows of well below the secondary standard of .3 mg/L to well over 1.65 mg/L. This measurement was taken at the wellhead before any chlorination. Measurements taken at hydrants varied wildly with the lowest being 1.0 mg/L. I had one at 4.0 mg/L. I have no idea how I can have higher reading at the hydrant, after chlorination than at the wellhead. I am attributing the the drastic rise in iron content to two factors. One, that the aquifer was not rested last winter as usual and Two, the very high current usage due to the drought. We have gone from pumping 400,000 gal/ mo. last winter to over 1.7 million gallons for the month of August. We chlorinate by mixing our own calcium hypo chlorite into two 10 gal tanks letting the calcium settle out. The sediment free chlorine solution is then moved to a 100 gal. tank where it is pumped into two 100,000 gal. storage tanks before distribution. To maintain our residual I have had to both increase the amount of granules I put into solution as well as pouring a few ounces of the powder directly into the storage tanks.
Everybody has brown water that they have never seen before. A letter of explanation and a request to minimize usage is set to be mailed the day after Labor Day. Also in a system this small most customers are also neighbors so word of mouth has already alerted many customers.
Hyper chlorination and reduced usage are only temporary solutions - if they work. I would like advise in several areas. Stressing the aquifer is my best guess as to the cause. Are their any other ideas out there as to how after decades of relative steady amounts of iron there could be such a sudden and drastic increase.
As a permanent solution I have read that the most common treatments for the removal of iron are: sequestration with polyphosphates (the cheapest), green sand filters and chemical oxidation followed by filtration. Given the situation that I have outlined above, plus that I have a high ph of around 8 would anyone recommend one of these treatments or any other?
As iron has never been a serious problem I do not have any onsite testing equipment. The readings I have given were taken by the Rural Water circuit rider with his instruments. I am taking samples to Labs but the turnaround times are 10-30 days. Another question is, where and who has cheap but effective equipment that would fit my needs? Would anyone recommend a particular instrument?
Thanks
Bob H

BobH,
I do not have any iron experiance but one of the questions was about testing equipment. The hach kits I always found reliable and the company has strong tech. support. After reading you report I think both green filters and sequestrian agents will work. Check with your local supplier they may have a supprt group.
Peru water