While the unprecedented drought rages on, Corcoran’s municipal water supply appears to be holding its own.
n update from Joe Faulkner, chief water operator, at Monday’s regular council meeting—and the news was pretty good considering the drought conditions. In essence, all city wells are currently online and producing, and even exceeding current water demands.
Faulkner presented a year-to-date graph showing local water use, reviewing some hiccoughs along the way. Water production dropped a couple of times in March, after wells failed quality tests, remaining static in April through most of June, when two wells were offline, with the city system producing 14 million gallons of water per day.
In June, that capacity dropped to less than average due to an anticipated summer draw-down on the system, but production jumped to about 17 million gallons of water per day in July, when the two wells came back online. That production amount is holding, noted Faulkner.
A new well should come into the system before the end of the year, Faulkner reported. Drilling for the new well started Monday.
Also in July, the city met its state-mandated water conservation target of 36 percent. Faulkner said the city had reached a 30 percent savings in previous months, topping the state mark at 36.23 percent in July.
He noted that surrounding cities are not doing as well. Faulkner said most communities in the surrounding area have hit a conservation percentage in the mid-20’s, while Hanford has achieved just a nine percent savings in water use since the new state regulations were implemented.
The water plant is holding up to the rigors of summer production demands, with the city thus far dealing with its sludge problem and other issues. A study launched earlier this year by Corona Environmental and aimed at improving conditions at the $18 million water plant should be completed by September.
The study will address the city’s water plant from start to distribution, including its mixing, blending and filter performance, as well as ways to control the amount of sludge byproduct produced while eliminating arsenic from the local water supply.
The study is designed to maximize the performance of the water plant.
