HomeMy WebLinkAbout05/21/1996, 3 - VOLUNTARY SERVICE LATERAL INVESTIGATION AND REHABILITATION PROGRAM council Mcg D.
May 21 1996
AGEnda Repout �N��.
CITY OF SAN LUIS OBISPO
FROM: John Moss, Utilities Director
Prepared By: David Hix, Wastewater Division Manager
SUBJECT: Voluntary Service Lateral Investigation and Rehabilitation Program
CAO RECOMMENDATION
By motion, approve Voluntary Service Lateral Rehabilitation Program and direct staff to prepare
appropriate documents for consideration in the 1997-99 budget.
DISCUSSION
The City's wastewater collection system and Water Reclamation Facility (WRF) have long been
experiencing problems with excessive wet weather Infiltration and Inflow(UI). UI interferes with
the WRF's treatment ability by hydraulically overwhelming its processes causing effluent
violations and the release of partially treated wastewater to San Luis Obispo Creek. The City's
collection system experiences surcharging and runs the risk of periodic sewage overflows.
Past projects for dealing with UI have included construction of a $750,000 equalization basin in
1983, installation of a $5,000,000 relief sewer in 1990 and spending significant amounts of
money upgrading the WRF with the capacity to handle the storm flows in 1993. During March
of 1995 the WRF experienced flows of over 25 million gallons per day and used $40,000 in
chlorine during that month to disinfect the huge amounts of partially treated wastewater. During
an average month the WRF uses $8,000 of chlorine for disinfection. Pipes in poor condition
allow UI to enter the City's collection system, over time these pipes degrade further and allow
increasing amounts of I/I into the City's system. These past projects have given the City the
ability to handle the high flows and minimize periods of non-compliance, but have not addressed
correcting the sources of the M.
In July 1994 staff presented to Council the findings of a comprehensive investigation performed
in drainage basin B of the City's wastewater collection system. This investigation showed that
privately owned service laterals were the largest contributor of infiltration in that drainage basin.
Council directed staff to return with a program that would begin evaluation of methods to correct
and/or manage the private service laterals. In March 1995 staff presented to Council a Pilot
Program for service lateral evaluation and Council approved the program for consideration in the
1995-97 budget- However during the budget process the Pilot Program was not approved and
Council directed staff to return with a full discussion of reduction alternatives and related costs.
In response to Council's direction staff has developed the following voluntary rehabilitation
program. The program is similar to other City programs such as the retrofit rebate, fire sprinkler
Council Agenda Report - Voluntary Service Lateral Program
Page 2
lateral and seismic retrofit programs. This program identifies and sets a ceiling on annual
expenditures, keeps
program expenses at minimal levels and begins the process of managing the private service
lateral component of the Sewer System.
The program recommended in this report will solicit voluntary participation from residential
property owners for investigation and correction of their privately owned service laterals. The
program will be developed with a strong public education component. By soliciting voluntary
participation, specifically in drainage basin B, and allowing some limited participation outside
of drainage basin B, the City will be able to reduce the amount of JA in basin B and other
targeted drainage basins while still offering service and assistance City wide. The program will
emphasize the management of service laterals with an on-going maintenance and repair program
that is similar to the management of the public wastewater collection system.
■ Voluntary Investigation and Rehabilitation Program
Service laterals in the City are entirely privately owned. Homeowners are responsible for
maintenance and repair of the lateral from the structure to the City main line. As noted in staff's
August 1994 report, a significant portion of the I/I in basin B is coming from the service laterals.
There are an estimated 100 miles of private service laterals in the City.
To begin this program, neighborhood meetings will be scheduled for interested homeowners to
familiarize them with the program and gather comments and concerns. Background information
on the program will be presented and the associated long and short term benefits for the City and
its customers will be discussed. The meetings will emphasize that the program is not mandatory,
therefore, greatly depends upon the public's input and participation to develop a successful repair
program.
After the neighborhood meetings, implementation of this program will require staff to meet with
interested homeowners that would like to participate in the program and develop the final details.
The basic elements of this program are; the homeowner will contact the City and receive
information for program participation, the homeowner will contract for any needed cleanout
installation and cleaning, City staff will perform a video inspection and evaluation of the cleaned
lateral, the homeowner will contract for needed repairs. City staff will inspect all work to
ensure it adequately addresses the problem and meets City standards before City reimbursement
to the homeowner for all appropriate costs. As identified the homeowner will be responsible for
lateral locating, clean-out installation, lateral cleaning and pipe repair, rehabilitation and
replacement work. Homeowners will then be reimbursed 50% of eligible costs up to a maximum
reimbursement of$1,000.
Staff recommends this program as an on-going program to manage service laterals, with annual
funding of$100,000 available for required services and reimbursement of 50% of eligible costs
per residence with a $1,000 cap. The $1,000 cap best represents a maximum reimbursement
based upon the average total cost to replace a defective lateral of approximately $2,000. Eligible
costs shall be determined as all costs necessary for evaluation and repair of the private service
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Council Agenda Report - Voluntary Service Lateral Program
Page 3
lateral. Costs may vary depending upon required repairs. Video inspection and evaluation
services will be performed by the City at no cost to the homeowner.
■ Required Equipment
To ensure quality inspection services, staff recommends purchasing a service lateral video
camera. This will help to streamline this program by simplifying scheduling for inspections,
instantaneous entry of lateral information into the City's existing data base and quick turn around
time of results to the homeowner. Currently the City operates a video inspection unit but does
not posses a camera that can operate in smaller diameter pipes such as laterals. Purchase of a
lateral camera is a one time cost and can be used with the City's existing video equipment to
compliment our mainline inspection capabilities. The recommended program will focus on the
upper lateral (building to property line) and record inspection data on the lower lateral (property
line to City sewer main connection) for possible future projects.
CONCURRENCES
This program has been reviewed by the Community Development and Finance Departments and
they concur with the recommendations herein.
FISCAL IMPACT
The estimated cost for this program is detailed below:
Equipment:
Lateral Video Inspection System $25,000
Contract Services:
Total Laterals Prepared, Inspected and Corrected First Year 75
75 Laterals @ $1,000 Each $75,000
Total Cost First Year $1�
Total Laterals Prepared, Inspected and Corrected Following Years 100
100 Laterals @ $1,000 Each $I00 M
Total Cost Annually $1�
The estimated cost for the program is $100,000 annually and will be identified in the 1997-99
capital improvement plan for Wastewater Collection. Staff is recommending that funding for this
program be taken from projected capital improvement plan financing levels for wastewater
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Council Agenda Report - Voluntary Service Lateral Program
Page 4
collection system improvements. With projected approval for funding of$750,000 per year for
1997-99, sufficient funding has been projected for this program based upon reasonable
participation levels.
Funding for the first year will be for the purchase of the service lateral video inspection unit and
to prepare, inspect and correct (upper service.lateral) approximately seventy five service laterals.
The annual funding for the following years will be for preparing, inspecting and correcting
approximately one hundred service laterals. Staff will be able to recommend more accurate
funding levels after participation levels, actual costs and corrective measures are established with
a working program.
Staff time for program administration, inspections and evaluations will be worked into the
wastewater collection's I/I crew schedule. Some cost savings may be experienced because not
every lateral will need to be located, requires a cleanout or needs to be repaired or replaced. Any
individual lateral cost savings should be left in the program to repair and replace addition laterals.
This program will become an ongoing component of the City's wastewater collection system
management. To physically correct UI with a single or even multiple projects in a short time
would be extremely cost prohibitive. The only cost feasible means of M reduction is to approach
I/I as a long term management rehabilitation program.
ALTERNATIVES
1. Take no action. This alternative is not recommended. Private service laterals have been
identified as the most significant source of I/I in area B. The laterals need to be
evaluated and repaired. Because the majority of the laterals are believed to be at least
35 years old and constructed of inferior materials, taking no action will result in further
lateral degradation and increased UI.
2. Provide low interest loans to homeowners. This alterative is not recommended. This
alternative would require significant additional staff time for administration of the
financing program and may exclude some homeowners who are unable to qualify for
financing.
3. Provide homeowners with educational materials and professional guidance only from City
staff. This alternative is not recommended. This alternative would provide the
homeowner with useful information and guidance from the City, but provides no financial
or administrative incentive for the homeowner to repair or rehabilitate their lateral.
4. Provide homeowners with a different level of financing. Council may wish to identify
an alternative level of financing/reimbursement for this program. Increased financial
participation by the City will likely result in increased homeowner participation. Lower
levels of City participation may result in lower homeowner participation and leave the
program ineffective. With an average total cost to replace a defective lateral of
approximately $2,000, staff feels a 50% reimbursement with a $1,000 cap would provide
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Council Agenda Report - Voluntary Service Lateral Program
Page 5
sufficient financial participation to ensure a reasonable level of participation in this
program.
5. Require some level of mandatory, non-funded lateral evaluation and rehabilitation
program by homeowners. This program would be specific to basins with high levels of
UI. This alternative is not recommended because it would be expensive to administer,
still require some level of investigation by City staff and requires enforcement based
compliance rather than voluntary compliance. As mentioned previously, this may also
be a significant financial burden to some homeowners.
Attachments
Service Lateral Rehabilitation Program
The July 1994 Council Agenda Report describing the UI investigation in basin B is available in
the Council Offices.
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VOLUNTARY SERVICE LATERAL PROGRAM
The City's wastewater collection system and Water Reclamation Facility (WRF) have long been
experiencing problems with excessive wet weather Infiltration and Inflow (UI). Inflow occurs when
rainwater flows into the sewer via an opening or illegal connection, while infiltration is the movement
of water into the sewer through rain saturated soils via cracks, bad joints or broken sewer pipes. I/I
interferes with the WRF's treatment ability by hydraulically overwhelming its processes causing effluent
violations and the release of partially treated wastewater to San Luis Obispo Creek. The City's
collection system experiences surcharging and runs the risk of periodic sewage overflows.
In 1994 staff completed a comprehensive investigation performed on a portion of the collection system
in the Northwest part of the City. This investigation showed that privately owned service laterals were
a significant source of UI. Council directed staff to return with a program that would begin evaluation
of methods to correct and/or manage the private service laterals.
To correct this problem the City is proposing a voluntary lateral repair program. The City's Voluntary
Service Lateral Investigation and Rehabilitation Program (VSLIRP) is designed to address the I/I from
private sewer laterals by offering financial and professional assistance to homeowners with laterals in
poor condition. The program works by reimbursing the homeowner for 50%, up to S1,000, of the work
performed by a contractor to correct defects in their lateral and is similar to other City programs such
as the retrofit rebate and fire sprinkler lateral programs. ,
To-Be In the Program:
1. You must be the owner of a single family residence in the City of San Luis Obispo.
* This program is not available to commercial properties or multifamily residential properties.
How the Program Works:
■ HOMEOWNER CONTACT. If a homeowner is interested in having their service lateral replaced or
repaired they can contact the City's wastewater collection staff and make an appointment for a
site visit. During this initial meeting staff will confirm that the site is a single family residence
and collect site and homeowner information to determine if the homeowner is eligible for the
program. Once the homeowner is approved for the program they will be notified and advised
on a time to begin scheduling contractors for the work.
■ LATERAL LOCATING, CLEANOUT INSTALLATION AND CLEANING. The homeowner can hire a
plumbing contractor and have a cleanout installed on the lateral and the lateral cleaned. Before
any work on the lateral begins the homeowner must take out a permit from the City. This permit
reflects the City's desire for all work to meet City standards, demonstrates the homeowners
commitment to participate in the program and helps track the work. The $35.00 permit fee will
not be reimbursed. After location of the lateral, a cleanout should be installed as close to the
house as possible to allow for the maximum cleaning and inspection of the lateral. After
installation of the cleanout the line must be cleaned to remove any debris, roots or obstructions
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that would conceal any defects in the lateral and/or inhibit the video camera from performing an
entire inspection.
■ VIDEO INSPECTION AND EVALUATION. Shortly after the installation of the cleanout and the
cleaning, the homeowner should contact the City for a video inspection. The video inspection
will inspect the entire lateral down to the City mainline. Laterals will be evaluated for defects
that contribute to I/I such as cracks, offset joints, breaks and holes. Other criteria such as root
intrusion and type of materials will also be considered in the evaluation . If the lateral has not
been sufficiently cleaned the homeowner will be advised to contact the plumbing contractor to
return and adequately reclean the lateral.
■ REPAIR OF DEFICIENCIES. After City staff has reviewed the video and evaluated the lateral,
staff will make a recommendation for correction of the problem. The homeowner can then hire
a contractor to perform the needed work. If during the repair the homeowner or contractor feels
more work than staff's recommendation needs to be performed to complete the repair they must
contact City staff and request an inspection. If during the inspection staff decides that more work
needs to be performed to adequately complete the repair then City staff can authorize the addition
work. Additional.work may be performed at the homeowners request without City concurrence,
but may not be eligible for reimbursement.
■ FINAL INSPECTION AND EVALUATION. After all repairs have been made, inspection of the
finished repairs will be performed by staff. Staff will determine if the repair/replacement corrects
the identified problem,follows staff recommendation for correction and meets City specifications.
Any work that does not meet City specifications will not be accepted and must be brought up
to City specifications before costs will be reimbursed.
■ REIMBURSEMENT. After all work has been completed and has passed inspection, the homeowner
can apply for reimbursement of 50% their eligible costs. Eligible costs shall be defined as all
costs necessary for evaluation and repair of the service lateral. Additionally the homeowner will
only be reimbursed for the work performed by a.contractor that was recommended or approved
by City staff. The homeowner will not be reimbursed for personal time used for arranging the
work, work performed by the homeowner, permits or any work performed by the contractor not
associated with correcting the problem.
The VSLIRP hopes to rehabilitate a minimum of 75 laterals its first year and 100 for the following years.
Funding for the program is provided from the City's capital improvement plan for wastewater collection
system improvements_ This cooperative voluntary program aimed at reducing M coupled with the City's
ongoing capital improvement programs will begin a long term comprehensive approach to reducing M
to manageable levels.
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