text: Ramar Cuts Costs As It Plugs Sewer Leaks - tribunedigital-sunsentinel
  July 14, 1985|Nancy E. Roman, Staff Writer
  MIRAMAR — As the city plugs up leaks in its sewer system, it is also stopping a steady drain on the city budget.
  Although Miramar has already sealed some cracked pipes, it is still plagued with a leaky system that for seven years has been operating at an average excess cost of about $150,000 per year, Mayor Frank Branca said.
  The problem is groundwater that leaks into the sewage system, increasing the volume of raw sewage that has to be treated.
  ``We`ve been paying Hollywood to treat our rainwater,`` Branca said.
  The city pays 44 cents per 1,000 gallons of sewage sent to Hollywood for treatment.
  With the stoppage of the first leaks in early 1984, Miramar slowed groundwater intrusion to about 20 to 50 percent of the total volume of sewage.
  Branca said a 1981 study revealed that only 7 percent intrusion of groundwater into the total volume of sewage is normal.
  Since then, some leaks have been repaired, holding intrusion to an average of 30 percent, more on heavy rain days, city officials said.
  But Branca said expenses should decrease by about $200,000 a year as the city enters Phase 2 of its sewer restoration plan this fall.
  Ray Page, director of public works, said Miramar now pays Hollywood to process about 1.2 million gallons of groundwater per day the water that enters nto Miramar`s deteriorating sewage pipes.
  That would amount to about $440 per day in extra treatment cost.
  Branca said the renovated system, which should be in operation late this year, should pay for itself within five years and then continue to save between $100,000 and $200,000 a year.
  After the sewer renovation, the cost per gallon to treat sewage will remain about the same, but the overall cost will decline as the volume of water to be treated decreases.
  ``It`s plain, good business -- we`re spending money to save money,`` Branca said.
  Page said the city`s sewage system has been deteriorating over the past ten years.
  ``Every year since 1974 we requested $100,000 to repair the system and slow down rainwater intrusion,`` Page said. ``And every year they deleted it from the budget.
  He said he convinced Branca of the gravity of the situation and in 1982, the city spent about $100,000 to run television cameras through the pipes so commissioners and administrators could see the extent of the damage.
  ``The videos were the most amazing thing,`` Branca said, ``You could just see the water cascading in.``
  Convinced by the videos, the commission approved $750,000 in 1983 for sewage repair. Since then, $150,000 has been spent on sealing the leaks.
  Some minor leaks were sealed 1 1/2 years ago. Phase 2 of the repair program seeks to slow the smaller drips.
  The city is investigating the use of a new patching method using Insitruform, an expanding Fiberglas pipe. The tube, saturated with resin, is sent through the system with cold water. When it`s in place, hot water and steam are blasted through the system, causing the hose to expand and form a 1/4-inch- thick fiberglass tube inside the old pipes, Page said.
  Commissioner Tom DeSantis described the system as amazing, but expensive.
  Page estimated it would cost the city about $60,000 to repair 320 feet of pipe. Branca said total cost will be about $1 million.
  Although initially more expensive than older methods of repair, Page said the new method would cost about the same in the long run.
  The old process, called slip-lining, involves tearing up the road and inserting a smaller pipe into the existing pipe. It takes more time and more workers, and is less efficient, Page said.