Water division reports valve corrosion, PRV rehab and plume monitoring in annual operations update

Clay Mosley, deputy utility manager for gas, water and sewer operations, presented the utilities’ annual water-system update and told the Los Alamos Board of Public Utilities the distribution system’s overall condition is “fair” and that staff are pursuing multiple capital and operational remedies.

The update matters to customers and municipal operations because much of the water distribution system is aging cast iron (many mains date to roughly 50–70 years), the utility experienced a major rupture this year that exposed systemic valve-bolt corrosion, and water production choices intersect with operational energy use and a nearby chromium plume that forced staff to suspend one production well.

Mosley summarized work and findings across three program areas. In distribution, a rupture in the Kimasan area revealed extensive corrosion of valve-bolt hardware that staff replaced with high‑tensile stainless steel; Mosley said crews worked weekends to complete the replacement work. Mosley also described a comprehensive fire‑hydrant testing program and a project to rehabilitate pressure‑reducing valve (PRV) stations: "This PRV...was 1 of them that once, our contractor...took it all apart...and a lot of times he would find that other components couldn't be really salvaged," Mosley said, explaining why staff moved to full rehabilitation or replacement in several locations.

On water production, Mosley told the board the utility repaired motor-control and electrical issues at Pareto wells and brought wells back into service after diagnostic work. He also described a pilot to replace resistive heating with heat pumps at an OW4 station to reduce propane and electrical heating costs and to avoid pilot-line freeze incidents.

Mosley said staff are monitoring a chromium groundwater plume and that, after review, the utility suspended operation of Production Well 3 because of the plume’s proximity; he said the New Mexico Environment Department concurred. "Through that, Philo decided that it was best to suspend the operation of PW 3 due to the proximity of the well and the chromium plume, and NMED was right there. They said, yep," Mosley said.

On nonpotable/reuse water, staff reported the Los Alamos Wastewater Treatment Plant and the White Rock plant are producing Class 1A effluent suitable for irrigation. The utility completed a nearly 1,000,000‑gallon bio‑storage tank and rehabilitated an older tank, allowing the utility to meet parks and golf‑course irrigation needs and to seek additional nonpotable customers.

Operationally, Mosley said the department maintains a GIS‑based condition index (age, material, break history) and plans to update condition maps now that a new GIS hire is on staff. He described an ongoing SCADA and fiber project that staff expect to deploy over about 18–24 months; the upgrade is intended to provide more real‑time telemetry to enable smarter pumping and to better align pump schedules with times of lower-cost solar generation. "We're gonna get a lot more data points," Mosley said of the SCADA upgrades.

Mosley and board members discussed budget and capital priorities. He said water production projects are expensive and that the board’s capital program has increased water distribution and production allocations since about 2021. He noted ongoing grant-seeking (state Water Trust Board and other sources) and said coordination with roads projects remains an important way to schedule pipe replacements.

Board members asked for updated condition maps and for the asset‑management team’s overlay of public‑works road projects with pipeline priorities; staff said they will provide updated condition assessment maps next year.

The board took no formal action. Staff will continue project design and grant applications; the SCADA/fiber work and several capital projects will roll forward according to the five‑year capital plan.