Time to Spring Forward!

It is starting to look a lot like spring in the Sunol Valley. One of our team members snapped this picture of some Golden Poppies from the Calaveras Dam Replacement Project construction site. In addition, it is time to spring forward with Daylight savings time starting this Sunday, March 13, 2016. Don’t forget to turn your clocks forward one hour for more light in the evening and a later sunrise! Hello Spring!

What do water pipes, water conservation, fossils and dams have in common?

They were all part of the cool topics shared with the Sunol Glen School students last week at their annual Earth/Science Day festivities.  We at the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission were honored to be a guest again this year to share information about the Hetch Hetchy Regional Water System.

We are always surprised and amazed at the enthusiasm and smarts of these first through eighth graders. Did you know that the California State Flower is the Golden Poppy? They did. Did you know that you could save your shower water in a bucket and water your plants with it? They did. Did you know the Sunol Valley was once a coastline? Many of them knew that, too. They enjoyed looking at the 20 million year old fossils unearthed during the construction of the Calaveras Dam Replacement Project, including a prehistoric shark tooth, seashells and rocks from the site.

We had a blast at Sunol Glen School and can’t wait to be back!

Now, for bonus points, what is the California State Fish? (Sunol Glen students, no telling!)

The New Irvington Tunnel is officially in service!

Our teams are excited to announce that the New Irvington Tunnel is officially in service carrying drinking water to our 2.6 million Bay Area customers.

This is a major milestone since the completion of the New Irvington Tunnel Project completes the last three tunnels in the Water System Improvement Program (WSIP), creating a critical water lifeline able to withstand earthquakes on the Hayward, Calaveras, and San Andreas faults.

Located between the Sunol Valley and Fremont, the new seismically-designed tunnel is the last of three tunnels making up this “water lifeline” around the Bay.  The project is part of the agency’s $4.8 billion Water System Improvement Program.

The tunnel was constructed by the joint venture of Southland Tutor Perini who began tunneling in March 2011. It was constructed using conventional mining techniques from four separate headings using road headers and controlled detonation to break up the hard rock.

Tunnel Facts:

• Tunnel Length: 18,660 feet or 3.5 miles
• Location: Parallel to the existing tunnel between Sunol Valley and the City of Fremont 
• Depth: Between 30 feet and 700 feet underground
• Finished internal diameter: 8.5 feet
• More than 7.8 million pounds injected into the tunnel
• The New Irvington Tunnel will carry approximately 120 million gallons of water a day on average during normal operating conditions when both tunnels are in service.
• The maximum amount of water the tunnel can transport per day: approximately 300 million gallons 
• This project provided approximately 42% of total labor hours to SFPUC service territory residents, and nearly half (48%) of total apprentice hours to SFPUC service territory apprentices ensuring our local workers and local residents were able to participate in this unique, once-in-a-lifetime construction opportunity.

What Happens Next?

Now that the tunnel is in service, the construction team will begin restoration of the above ground facilities. The SFPUC will take the existing tunnel out of service for inspection in early March 2015. The entire New Irvington Tunnel Project will be complete in Fall 2015.

1933: Historic photo of  worker at Irvington Portal spherical manifold

Today: New Irvington Tunnel worker at new dishhead at Irvington Portal

Update on the Town of Sunol Fire Suppression Project for the weeks of November 24 and December 1, 2014

The majority of the work within the Town has been completed. However, there is some work left to be done.

Construction Currently Underway or Planned for the Next 2 weeks

Pipeline connections at Sunol Glen School

Pipeline connections will be made between the new and old systems at the Sunol Glen School Parking lot the week of December 1st.  We will minimize any impacts to the school. The water supply to the town and school will not be affected. 

Service Connection Upgrades

As part of this project, SFPUC crews, together with our contractor, will inspect selected service connections of SFPUC customers. The service connection consists of the section of pipe between the water meter box and the street main which is maintained by the SFPUC. Should the inspection show the connection needing an upgrade, we will schedule a replacement and notify the property owner.

The connections on Main Street will be first, with inspections starting the week of Thanksgiving. 

Installation of bollards around fire hydrants

In order to protect some of the newly installed hydrants from accidental damage from vehicles, we will install bollards around the more exposed hydrants after the week of December 8th.  These bollards will conform with Alameda County Fire Specifications.

Installation of one of the two replacement tanks on tank hill continues. Work on the tanks on the hill will continue through next summer.

Pavement Restoration 

Once all the construction work within town is complete, we will work with Alameda County inspectors, repair street structural damage caused by the construction, and slurry seal Main Street.

The Jack and Bore work to lay pipe underneath the Union Pacific Railroad on Main Street was

recently completed.

What has been completed to date:

• Installation of approximately 2 miles of transmission mains on Main St, Bond St, Foothill East and West and Kilkare Road.
• Placement of all of the 26 planned fire hydrants.
• Placing pipe across three bridges: Bond, Foothill, and Kilkare
• Removal of two water tanks on Tank Hill.
• Pipeline tie in work at Kilkare Road
• Jack and Bore Crossing of Alameda County Railroad at the intersection of Main Street, Kilkare Road, and West Foothill Road.
• Jack and Bore crossing under the Union Pacific Railroad on Main Street.
• Pipeline Tie in work on Main Street near Bond

What is coming:

• The new hydrants will be charged and ready for use.
• The new water storage tank on Tank Hill will be placed in service during the next 3 months.
• Thereafter, a pair of older water storage tanks will be demolished
• and construction will start on the second water storage tank.

As always, please do not hesitate to contact us with any questions, comments, or concerns.

24-hour Answering Line: 
(866) 973-1476

epowell@sfwater.org
blauppe@sfwater.org

Thank you for your patience!

Construction for the Town of Sunol Fire Suppression Project is Starting

We are getting started on construction to improve the water distribution system and construct approximately 26 fire hydrants in the Town of Sunol. 

Please join us for a project groundbreaking on Friday, July 11, at 10:30 a.m. at the parking lot (intersection of Main Street, Kilkare Road, and Foothill Road) in Sunol, California.
We will enjoy light refreshments at the park afterwards.

Where is construction right now?

During the Weeks of July 7—July 21, 2014

Pipeline installation will occur at:

• Sunol Glen School
• Main Street up to the Railroad Crossing
• Bond Street

In August, we plan:

• Pipeline Installation on East Foothill Road to  the Kilkare Road intersection
• Jack and Bore crossing underneath Alameda County Railway at the intersection of Main Street, Kilkare Road, and Foothill Road.

o   We will cross under the railroads using a jack and bore method. The contractor will dig two large pits on each side of the crossing, insert pipeline casing into the pits and move the pipe beneath the railroad crossings. Each jack and bore crossing will take approximately 30 days.

What to Expect during Construction:

• One-lane traffic through construction zones during work hours. This will cause some delays, so please plan ahead.
• Possible Work Hours: 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
• Weekend work might be necessary, but we will provide advanced notice.
• Night work will be necessary during pipeline/tank shutdowns. We will minimize noise.  Some residents will have nighttime water outages with advance notice.
• Access to private driveways and around streets will be available at all times.

Stay in touch

Visit us  online here

Call us 24/7 at (866) 973-1476.
blauppe@sfwater.org
epowell@sfwater.org

See you around the Sunol Valley!

The Rim Fire in Yosemite and a Sunol Valley Update

The Rim Fire, which started in the Stanislaus National Forest on Saturday, August 17th, has been widely reported during the past week. The fire has spread to 179,481 acres as of this writing, and more than 3,000 personnel have been dispatched to combat the fire. As of this writing, the fire is 20% contained.

The fire has since spread into the Tuolumne Watershed, and the environs of the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir, which is the source of 85% of the drinking water we provide our 2.6 million customers. There continues to be no change or impact to water quality or delivery from the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir. We continue serving high quality water to our customers.

The water delivery system and the recent upgrades completed in the Sunol Valley as part of our multi-billion dollar Water System Improvement Program have increased our ability to continue to serve our customers even during such an event as this. Why?

• Hetch Hetchy water is being pumped to San Antonio Reservoir in the Sunol Valley as we speak to ensure we have as much water here in the Bay Area as possible, in case Hetchy supplies should become unavailable to us.
• The pumps that send Hetchy water to San Antonio and to the Sunol Valley Water Treatment Plant were recently upgraded as part of the San Antonio Pump Station Upgrade.
• The Sunol Valley Water Treatment Plant Expansion and Treated Water Reservoir upgraded filters and outlet works at the plant, and recently finished construction of a new treatment basin.

In short, should Hetchy supplies become unavailable to us because of the Rim Fire, or need to be treated, we have completed enough infrastructure upgrades in the Sunol Valley to filter and provide 160 million gallons of water a day to our Bay Area Customers for up to 2 months.

This incident underscores the urgency to complete the remaining water system upgrades in the Valley: New Irvington Tunnel, San Antonio Backup Pipeline, and a replacement Calaveras Dam.

So, when the next large incident occurs -- we will still be ready!

For up to date information on the rim fire, please visit sfwater.org/RimFire.

San Antonio Pump Station









Water being filtered at the Sunol Valley Water Treatment Plant