A better 'Border?': CSA exploring options to improve secondary water source

May 15—Built along the Stonycreek River in Paint Township, the Border Dam is one of a few backup sources the Cambria Somerset Authority can tap into to deliver water to its industrial customers.

But that doesn't means it's a dependable source, authority Manager Earl Waddell said.

The dam freezes up almost every winter, often making it useless as a water supply for several months a year.

And while its generations-old system of steel collection racks and screens still functions, they allow sediment, leaves and debris that the river collects to flow into the CSA's lines — which forced at least one downstream industrial customer to continuously clean its own filters the last time the dam was used, Waddell said.

The authority hopes to change that.

The board is directing its engineering firm to explore options to address those issues.

"The whole idea is to make this a more reliable backup source of water," Waddell said.

Supplied by the Stonycreek, the structure operates as a river intake dam.

As developed, water runs through the basement of a brick treatment facility — built along one side of the river in the late 1800s. On the way in, water passes through a gate and "trash racks" with 15-foot-high metal bars that are meant to collect sticks and other clutter, Waddell said.

The water then passes through a secondary filtering device that includes a drum with steel screens that drop leaves and other unwanted additions into a trough while the water passes through and enters a 36-inch CSA pipeline that heads into the City of Johnstown.

"Border Dam can supply those customers several million gallons of water a day — and it's much improved water than it used to be," CSA Chairman Jim Greco said. "We need to figure out a way to stop those old screens from clogging."

Industrial needs

Recent breaks that have since been addressed on the Cambria Somerset Authority's main line, the Quemahoning, and the addition of the gas-fired CPV Fairview plant have kept CSA officials working to ensure their backup water supplies meet expectations.

Some of the area's larger employers — including Liberty Wire, North American Hoganas and Gautier Steel — rely on the authority's water to operate.

CPV uses more than 5 million gallons of water per day, something the Hinckston Reservoir's line can also support "for months," if necessary, but improvements to Border would add more valuable flexibility, Greco said.

"This is something we've continued to work on as we can afford it," he said, noting repairs were made to a Riverside-area section of the Border Dam line a few years ago.

He said the authority's L.R. Kimball engineers will explore ways to address the issues at the dam itself — including the freezing problem, which occurs so often during the winter because the dam is taking in water from the river's surface, rather than reservoir water that might be 40 feet deep at a location such as the Quemahoning Reservoir.

Greco said the authority is also working to clarify needs that might exist on its Hinckston line downstream from the Cambria County reservoir, adding that the line is the least-documented one that the authority operates. Greco said members suspect sections of the line are smaller than 24 inches, as first developed, due to quick repairs made decades ago.

"For whatever reason," he said, "the pressure from that line isn't what it should be. That's something else we're trying to get resolved."

It's all part of a thorough, longer-term reliability project to support the CSA's network of transmission lines, Greco said.

Authority members anticipate a report back from L.R. Kimball engineer Dave Minnear later this year. But any repairs or upgrades would likely be 2022 projects — and perhaps later, he said.

"There may be some projects we can do piecemeal, and it could require getting approval from the Department of Environmental Protection," Waddell said, noting that the price tag will be a deciding factor.

"It's all going to depend on the answers we get from L.R. Kimball."

David Hurst is a reporter for The Tribune-Democrat. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram @TDDavidHurst.