Finding and Fixing Leaks
JXN Water is taking many steps to address leaks and repairs.
Fixing Lost Water
The amount of water lost daily from the system range from 20 to 30 million gallons each day. That is enough to supply another city of 200,000 people. This lost water puts unnecessary pressure on the entire system. Lost water also wastes needed funding at a cost of about $10,000 to $15,000 daily.
JXN Water has contracted with two local firms to address large pipe breaks, leaks, valve replacements and related work. Another contractor is working on smaller leaks throughout the system, working off the backlog of reported leaks and fixing others found in work areas.
Addressing Critical Repairs
National engineering firm Stantec is managing particularly challenging repairs, requiring special skills and equipment. The first major leak repair began in March on a leak found along Purple Creek in an abandoned golf course property. The leak was about 5 million gallons per day.
The leak was too big to repair under pressure and the 48-inch diameter pipe too critical to provide water to South Jackson to be taken out of service to make the repair. As a result, a specialized contractor was bought in from Texas to install a bypass pipe to ensure service would be maintained to all JXN Water customers during the repair. The completed repair is expected this month.
Next Steps
Lost water is a significant issue in the JXN Water system. Long-term, JXN Water is installing a continuous leak detection system. The system will use sensors through our new advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) meters in combination with a series of monitors shared throughout the larger pipe system to listen for leaks and alert JXN Staff when leaks are found.