Celebration Gets Proactive Water Pressure Strategy
March 31, 2010 by Jim Siegel
Filed under Around Town
The Celebration community water company, formally known as the Enterprise Community Development District (ECDD), has recently announced steps to help residents with high/fluctuating fresh water pressures. These steps will not only inform residents regarding how to reduce the possibility of water damage to their homes, but also will result in the installation of equipment that should fix the water high/fluctuation problem permanently.
This issue began attracting wide-spread attention of residents several months ago as a consequence of information exchanges posted by homeowners on the Front Porch website. This thread revealed:
* Many Celebration residents have experienced a variety of plumbing problems in their homes, ranging from blown seals to burst pipes.
* Local plumbers, called to repair damaged plumbing, seemed to agree that many of these problems stemmed from unusually high or highly fluctuating water pressure entering the houses in Celebration. They have recorded pressures over 100 psi and as high as 125 psi. In contrast, the usual maximum recommended in building codes and standards is reportedly about 80 psi. Home plumbing systems are not designed to withstand these higher or widely fluctuating pressures.
* To remedy these conditions plumbers have been installing pressure reduction valves (as opposed to pressure relief valves) in many homes, at a cost of $150-250. Unfortunately, many of these homes had already sustained considerable water damage and expense, as much as $50,000 to replace furnishings, carpet, drywall, and hardwood flooring.
ECDD’s Brian Smith explained to residents during and after a recent CROA meeting that on many occasions he warned builders to install pressure reduction valves on dwellings built in Celebration, consistent with established and well-communicated ECDD policies. Some people believe that such devices could have helped reduce the unusual rash of incidents involving water leaks or plumbing damage in Celebration dwellings.
Thankfully, the ECDD has offered to insert a warning in the next water bills mailed to homeowners, along with instructions on how to identify whether their dwelling has a pressure reduction valve (a relief valve is not sufficient). They also agreed to consider sending an email blast to all residents. Further, they have offered to measure the water pressure at the homes of any residents that call their office.
After the meeting Smith elaborated on planned actions to install variable frequency drives (VFD) in the water system, equipment that will reportedly control water pressure variation from one point in time to another within a much tighter range. According to the ECDD, “Currently as the system demand exceeds the capacity of the jockey pump (which produces up to 500 gpm at 75 psi discharge pressure), the high service pump will start and the system pressure at the pump station would rise in the vicinity of 110 psi based on a suction pressure set point of 50 psi at the pressure regulating valve. Based on this, the current range (of pressure delivered to residents) is generally 75 to 110 psi (plus/minus). If the TOHO pressure drops below 50 Psi then the low end of the pressure will lower accordingly. With the (planned) VFD and pressure set point control, the system pressure range can be expected to be 75 to 90 psi depending on the desired operating set point. In addition to controlling the range, the variation in pressure with VFD will be much smoother.
The date when residents can expect the new equipment to be fully operational is somewhat vague. In response to that question, the ECDD said, “We have evaluated two options for the VFD addition. One is to retrofit the existing panel to accommodate the new VFDs and the other would be to provide separate enclosures for the VFDs. In both options, the motors will have to be rewound to make them compatible for the VFD. We have been trying get the optional prices from the ECDD desired control shop since mid December. Finally they have promised price early next week. Per Florida Bearings, the retrofit option can be implemented in 3-4 week from NTP, while the other option may take 8-9 weeks due to longer delivery times.”
Until equipment installation is complete, local plumbers and other knowledgeable individuals recommend installation of a pressure reduction valve to help decrease the possibility of potential related problems.
The next public meeting of the ECDD Board is February 17, 4 pm, at the 851 Building. According the ECDD charter, residents are welcome to attend and comment.
Originally posted 2010-02-14 05:49:51.
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