Borough of Jim Thorpe
Water System Improvements
In 2005 the Borough of Jim Thorpe decided to tackle its lingering water distribution system problems, which included 60% unaccounted for water loss, as well as poor fire protection. The Borough replaced approximately 20,000 feet of 100 year old waterlines, and approximately 500 water service connections which were beyond repair, along with an old steel storage tank.
On the “West Side” of town on Broadway, a challenging network of utilities required new work being installed around two sanitary lines, 2 and 3 existing water lines, 2 different gas lines, a storm sewer, and an underground stone creek archway which needed to be crossed four times! The North Street waterline project on the “East Side” of town involved solving some high pressure problems, by dividing the system into additional pressure zones for better control. Replacing water storage tank was recommended since the existing tank was beyond its life and in need of significant repairs.
After several months of gathering system flow and pressure data, Entech redesigned the distribution system for both the “West” and “East” sides of Jim Thorpe. The West Side downtown area was broken into two separate pressure zones to better manage the high pressures. A new 12-inch waterline, 10,000 feet long, was constructed from the Water Treatment Plant through the winding and congested road to the bottom of Jim Thorpe. Upon completion, the “downtown” flows were reduced from over 400,000 gallons per day to less than 90,000 gallons per day, a reduction of over 75%! Fire flows were increased from 400 gpm to over 2,000 gpm, a five-fold increase! The East Side area was split into three pressure zones, and 10,000 feet of new transmission main was installed in a location to serve as a “backbone” to the water system. Several pressure regulating vaults will be used in order to reduce high system pressures from 140 psi to 110 psi. The combination of a new transmission main and proper pressure zones, increased hydrant flows throughout the entire water system an average of 3 times their original capacity.
