Frank Burdick’s Log Number: 70
Submitted by: Burdick log
Category (1,2,3): 2
Status: Closed
Estimated date to address: N/A
Q. The domestic water siphon "back up" system for
sump pumps is more reliable than a 12 volt battery back-up system. The City's website states the following: (This system)"Uses about 2 gallons of
pressurized fresh water to pump out 1 gallon of sump water. Water usage will
show up on the water bill." What
would the estimated flow rate be, to the Storm Sewer system, during PEAK FLOW
periods, for one Target Neighborhood, such as Orchard Hills, if ALL of
the ("99%
of homes in this Target Area are equipped with FDDs per OHM") WERE
equipped with water siphon back up systems?
What would be impact to the Peak Flow rates to the Storm Sewer
systems to the Morehead and Churchill areas?
Can the City justify the "sustainability" impact of
using this quantity of domestic water for the purposes of satisfying the goals
of the FDD program?
[OHM Advisors, emails between Frank Burdick and Robert Czachorski] A. The 2 to 1 computation is a relatively easy
computation to make, but that condition only occurs in the rare condition of
the failure of the sump pump. I can think of two primary failure modes of a
sump pump: 1) when the pump itself burns out, and 2) power failure. Presumably
in condition 1 - sump pump failure, the impacts on the storm system would be
negligible, as it is not likely that very many would occur simultaneously. In
condition 2 - power failure, the impact on the storm system would depend on the
extent and frequency of power failures. It is this piece that is not so
easy to quantify with our current information in hand. Perhaps the survey might
help us understand this piece, by examining the answers to the questions about
water in basement. I would suggest that we wait for those results before
commenting further.
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