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Operations manager recounts pump-station incident and maintenance wins
Summary
Operations staff described a Feb. 16 near-surge at Pump Station 15 caused by a mass of rags that jammed a low-level float, triggering manual bypass procedures; staff stabilized the system and are pursuing PLC and relay fixes. The board also heard about cleaning efforts and a major infiltration repair.
The district’s operations team reported on a Feb. 16 incident at Pump Station 15 during a storm in which a large mass of rags wrapped around a low-level float and prevented automatic pump operation until staff manually engaged a bypass. Operations and maintenance manager Paul Romer described the event and the corrective steps: on-call staff located a manual bypass switch, held it to run the pumps, and coordinated field teams to restore the station before a system-wide overflow.
Romer said the district is addressing both PLC programming and relay-wiring changes to ensure a low-level float cannot lock out pump operation in high-water conditions. "a big slug of rags came in through the system and got hung up on the low level float," he said. Managers also reported two maintenance successes: completion of scheduled cleaning of the Larkspur Boardwalk and repair of a major infiltration source (estimated over 100 gallons per minute) at a manhole using injectable grout.
District staff noted February was a no-spill month and commended crews’ rapid response during holiday weekend conditions.
The board thanked staff for the response; staff will proceed with PLC and control-system modifications and return as needed with updates.
