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Town staff reports water-plant shutdown; samples to guide Staley Spring treatment design
Summary
Town staff reported a temporary shutdown of the water plant after a conductivity sensor fault and described plans to send raw-water samples to Blue Ridge Analytical so a manufacturer can design a tailored filtration system for the Staley Spring project. DEQ sign-off was cited as a next step.
Town staff told the Rural Retreat Town Council that the municipal water plant briefly went offline after repairs to the CIP cleaning unit and a faulty conductivity sensor, and staff outlined next steps to assess and design a replacement treatment system for Staley Spring.
Why it matters: The plant shutdown briefly lowered tank levels and highlighted the town’s need to ensure reliable water production as recreational and campground use increases with warmer weather.
Staff member (Speaker 6) reported that while technicians were repairing the CIP cleaning unit and replacing a conductivity sensor, “the plant went into shutdown.” The crew brought the plant back online the following evening, but tank levels had fallen; staff said they expected to recover production quickly and had already regained about 4 feet in storage since the outage.
As part of planning for the Staley Spring water-plant project, staff said the town will collect raw-water samples and send them to Blue Ridge Analytical. Those test results will be provided to the manufacturer, which will specify the appropriate filtration equipment. “They'll send the tests from your raw water analysis to the manufacturer of the water plant,” staff said, describing how manufacturers use raw-water analysis to determine filter design. Staff added that sampling would likely take about a day and that DEQ sign-off will be required before moving forward.
Council members asked whether replacement pumps were ready; staff confirmed pumps are on hand but said they did not want to risk removing or replacing pumps until the scheduled CIP cleaning and filter work were completed. A council member noted a previously cited flow figure for the spring, and another participant stated, “750,000 gallons a day is what is going through,” referencing prior discussions of spring capacity.
Staff also said an operational recommendation from the consultant was to split the existing skid of 42 filters into two skids with 21 filters each so that if one skid goes down the town would retain partial treatment capacity.
What’s next: Staff will complete the raw-water sampling, forward results to the manufacturer for plant design, and seek DEQ sign-off on permit and design parameters. No formal vote was taken; council directed staff to proceed with testing and report back with recommended designs and cost estimates.
