North Lakeport

History

County Service Area #21 (CSA#21), is comprised of the customer base for the North Lakeport Water Treatment facility and distribution system serving the North Lakeport area. CSA #21 was formed in 1989 from more than 25 small independent water systems. This is a surface water treatment plant utilizing Clear Lake as the water source. The North Lakeport Water Treatment Facility was placed in operation in 1991 to serve the customers and consists of a raw water intake structure, raw water pumping station, pretreatment (ozonation), clarification/granular media filtration (GMF), granular activated carbon (GAC), chlorination, finished water pumping, two 500,000 gallons, two 20,000 gallons, and one pressurized 1000 gallon tank.

Customer Statistics & Infrastructure

CSA #21/N. Lakeport Water currently includes:

  • 1,252 Connections (1,751 Single Family Dwelling (SFD) equivalents), serving a population of nearly 2,700 residents.
  • Over 25 miles of distribution pipeline.
  • 5 Storage tanks (2-500,000, 2-20,000, and 1- 1000 gallon storage tank)
  • 3 pumping stations

The distribution system is divided into three pressure zones (PZ). Pressure Zone One (PZ1) serves the largest number of customers and consists of approximately 128,500 feet of piping, and two 500,000-gallon storage tanks and is supplied directly from the water treatment facility through two pumps. PZ1 supplies most (99%) of North Lakeport’s water demand. Pressure Zone Two (PZ2) consists of 3,700 feet of piping and two pumps. PZ2 directly serves 9 SFDs and supplies water to two 20,000-gallon storage tanks. PZ1 is the sole source of water for PZ2. Pressure Zone Three (PZ3) consists of 2,100 feet of pipe and directly serves 8 SFDs through two pumps and a 1,000-gallon pressure tank. PZ2 is the sole source of water for PZ3.

Status

Over the last few years, significant improvements and upgrades have been implemented at the North Lakeport water treatment facility including a replacement ozone system – to remove odor and taste in the water; and replacement of the granular activated carbon (GAC) to “polish” and remove odor and taste causing compounds in the water prior to distribution. The Clearwell located at the treatment plant was re-coated (interior and exterior) in 2014. This also included the replacement of all structural beams at the top of the tank. The facility is now operating more efficiently and providing water to customers in compliance with all applicable water quality standards. The 12-month average change in North Lakeport Water’s customer base was less than 1%. As noted above, the service area is made up of over 25 small systems, many of which were constructed with less than ideal materials and design, during a time well before District staff had any role or oversight of the system(s). Maintenance will continue to be a challenge.

Outlook

The North Lakeport facility is in need of facility expansion for processing and storage. A funding application for these improvements will be submitted in 2016. This will include funds for construction through the State Water Resources Control Board-Division of Drinking Water Clean Water Revolving Fund Program. In the Fiscal Year 2015, an engineering firm was competitively selected to perform the design of the improvements. It is anticipated the design will include the addition of a fourth granular media filtration unit, along with ancillary components and additional storage capacity. The design and environmental review are anticipated to be complete in 2016, with construction following shortly thereafter. These improvements will provide an additional 500 single-family dwelling unit equivalent connections. Within the last year, all of the water storage tanks were inspected.