AWWA ACE54289

Bexar Metropolitan Water District (Bexar Met) in San Antonio, Texas operates 54 pumping facilities dispersed throughout a system taking source water from the famed Edwards Aquifer. The energy costs for these facilities exceed $1.2 million per year. The Edwards, and other aquifers like it, has seasonal fluctuations in water surface elevations that lend themselves to creative pumping strategies. These strategies, in turn, can lead to significant energy savings. Camp Dresser & McKee, along with Siemens Building Technologies performed a recent evaluation to investigate efficiency improvements for this system. Pumps evaluated during the study ranged in size from 10 to 900 Hp. Texas law allows energy efficiency improvements to be financed up to 15 years without affecting bonding capacity, with bond repayment coming from energy savings. The energy efficiencyimprovements identified for Bexar Met, which include completion of a District-wide supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system, are being implemented under this program. The CDM-Siemens team is implementing all of the improvements under a creative design-build turnkey approach that includes project financing. With repayment coming from energy and operational savings, the net cost to Bexar Met to implement the improvements is essentially zero. Projected cumulative cash flow resulting from the savings, even after design and installation of the SCADA system and mechanicalimprovements, was estimated to be approximately $2.7 million. This paper discusses these and other operational and energy conservation strategies being implemented at Bexar Met. The information presented will assist operators, engineers, andmunicipal utility managers in their efforts to streamline operations and reduce costs. Includes 6 references, figures.

Product Details

Edition:

Vol. - No.

Published:

06/01/2001

Number of Pages:

9

File Size:

1 file , 310 KB