June and July production through Monday at Hot Springs' two water treatment plants has twice crossed the threshold the state has set for water systems to begin planning for additional capacity, according to production data provided by the city.
The Ouachita Plant on upper Lake Hamilton and Lakeside Plant that treats water from the city reservoir at Lake Ricks crossed the 20 million-gallon mark June 18 and July 1. The Arkansas Department of Health instructs water systems to begin planning for additional supply and treatment when production exceeds 80 percent of capacity. The requirement is not enshrined by statute or regulation, but the department has said systems that don't take heed risk a ban being imposed on new connections.
The department downgraded the combined capacity of the plants to 25 million gallons a day earlier this year.
Hot Springs plans on bringing the 23 million-gallon average day Lake Ouachita allocation it obtained last year online by 2022. The rate increase that went into effect in January will secure the more than $90 million of debt the city plans on issuing to construct a treatment plant and related infrastructure.
The 20,429,000 gallons produced July 1 was the most this year through Monday, followed by 20,217,000 gallons June 18, 19,767,000 June 27 and 19,650,000 gallons June 29. Production this year has not reached the peak it achieved in 2012, when on July 6 of that year it climbed to 23,081,000 gallons.
The city has said its capacity was pushed to the brink in 2012, with the 80-percent mark reached 57 times, including a stretch of 19 consecutive days from June 21 to July 9.
Production spikes during prolonged stretches of hot, dry weather that increase sprinkler usage, the city has said. The airport at Hot Springs Memorial Field reported five days of measurable rain in June, with the 1.62 inches reported June 8 accounting for almost all of a 1.84-inch monthly total that was 2.88 inches fewer than the June average.
The 0.85-inch total reported for the first nine days of July was more than four-tenths of an inch below normal.
The airport reported an average high of 93.6 degrees for June, including highs of 101 degrees and 100 degrees June 28 and 29. The average high for the first nine days of this month was 95.6 degrees, including a high of 100 degrees July 6.
The weather conditions led the city and Garland County to put burn bans into effect Thursday morning.
The city has said weather-related strain on the system is compounded when tourism increases during the summer months, creating more demand for water. An aging delivery system also contributes, as the state's most recent survey of the system showed 28.53 percent of production is lost to leaks in transmission and distribution lines.
Crist Engineers, the city's water-system consultant, requested the state downgrade the city's capacity from more than 28 million gallons a day to 25 million earlier this year, telling the state its rating did not account for time filters are offline for cleaning.
Jeff Stone, director of the health department's engineering section, told the Water Provider Legislative Task Force in May the state raised the rating to 28 million gallons in the summer of 2007 to help the city meet demand.
"We raised their do-not-exceed limit that summer because it was a very hot summer," Stone told the panel. "They were having to meet water demands, and the health consequences of empty pipes are worse than the health consequences of over-exceeded filters. The caveat to that was I wanted to see tube settlers put in on the sediment basins.
"I don't think that anyone here really doubts that in the summertime, during peak demand, Hot Springs really needs more water. They're four or five years down the road to getting that."
New filters that went online this year at the Ouachita Plant give it a 21 million-gallon a day rating. The Lakeside Plant, which is more than 70 years old, has an updated rating of 4 million gallons.
Local on 07/13/2018