(Oct. 27, 2016) While there are no models or tests that can be run on the Pocomoke City water and sewer systems that might determine the cause of foul-smelling and sediment-laden tap water, particularly in the Pocomoke Heights area, the data collection phase of the project is almost complete.
The mayor and City Council heard a report on the progress from Scott Getchell of Salisbury-based GMB architects/engineers, who are performing the mapping operation for the town.
One of the problems in determining the cause of the problem is that the town records were incomplete, and even when the data were complete, it was often spread out over multiple areas.
Earlier this year when the council approved a study to ferret out the cause of the water problems, the first step was to produce complete maps of the existing water and sewer systems.
The city’s first complete water system map is finished, but the sewer map isn’t.
City Manager/City Attorney Ernie Crofoot has said previously the sediment, though unidentified, isn’t ferrous material.
Getchell said there were many issues in collecting all of the data, and operationally, all avenues to fill in the gaps have been exhausted.
“It’s time we got scientific about it,” he said.
The water map is undergoing conversion to a digital model, where scenarios and tests can be performed to see how the system operates under certain conditions.
The sewer map has not yet reached that point, as more data is collected from disparate sources.
Though hesitant to speculate on the cause of the contamination until all the data are collected and tests could be run, Getchell, under pressure from Mayor Bruce Morrison, did say the conditions, as they were described to him, hinted at a circulation problem within the system.
Getchell said the complete model should be ready by the end of the year.
The mayor and City Council heard a report on the progress from Scott Getchell of Salisbury-based GMB architects/engineers, who are performing the mapping operation for the town.
One of the problems in determining the cause of the problem is that the town records were incomplete, and even when the data were complete, it was often spread out over multiple areas.
Earlier this year when the council approved a study to ferret out the cause of the water problems, the first step was to produce complete maps of the existing water and sewer systems.
The city’s first complete water system map is finished, but the sewer map isn’t.
City Manager/City Attorney Ernie Crofoot has said previously the sediment, though unidentified, isn’t ferrous material.
Getchell said there were many issues in collecting all of the data, and operationally, all avenues to fill in the gaps have been exhausted.
“It’s time we got scientific about it,” he said.
The water map is undergoing conversion to a digital model, where scenarios and tests can be performed to see how the system operates under certain conditions.
The sewer map has not yet reached that point, as more data is collected from disparate sources.
Though hesitant to speculate on the cause of the contamination until all the data are collected and tests could be run, Getchell, under pressure from Mayor Bruce Morrison, did say the conditions, as they were described to him, hinted at a circulation problem within the system.
Getchell said the complete model should be ready by the end of the year.