New upgrades, safeguards at water plant
Mark Noack
Half Moon Bay Review
03/31/2011
The largest water treatment facility on the Coastside, the Nuñes Water Treatment Plant pumps out about 4.5 million gallons of water to the faucets of residents each day. And on Friday, at around 8 a.m. — right when many locals were taking their morning showers — the entire plant came to a sudden halt.
The plant shut down because an employee bumped a piece of machinery while turning a corner in the facility. Coastside County Water District administrators say that such safety precautions are important and do not normally interrupt service.
That inadvertent nudge jostled a meter so that it misread the water quality for a fraction of a second. And that interruption triggered alarms in the facility’s computer system, causing it to begin a full plant shutdown to prevent possibly contaminated water from getting out to people’s faucets.
Located next to Half Moon Bay High School, the plant reportedly has similar shutdowns at least once a month, typically for the same accidental bumps caused by human mistakes. The shutdowns amount to minor setbacks for the facility; it takes about three minutes for utility employees to get the plant running again, and plenty of fresh water is still available from storage tanks for the community.
David Dickson, general manager for the district, says he would rather err on the side of caution. The newly automated system has helped the water facility to become more efficient even as administrators add new safeguards.
“We don’t want our pants to fall down,” he said. “Now we’re wearing four belts and three sets of suspenders.”
Despite the occasional hiccup, water officials swear by the newly installed automated computer system and other upgrades, saying they have brought the water district’s most important facility up to code and into the digital age.
Today, a centralized computer system monitors the water intake, outflow, additive levels and the overall water quality for the entire plant. When problems emerge, the automated system can dial up the cell phones of water district employees at any time of the day to get them to check it out. And to monitor readouts from the facility, a utility worker can log into the system with a smartphone.
State inspectors from the Department of Public Health praised the newly upgraded Nuñes plant after a visit in January.
The upgrades come as part of more than $2 million the water district has spent on the plant, which draws water from the Crystal Springs Reservoir and a series of wells along Pilarcitos Creek.
