After California American Water (CAW) acquired the Geyserville Water System in November 2016, company electricians Al Amini and Mariano Garcia noticed, while working on the system, significant water hammers occurring during repetitive start/stop cycles. A water hammer is a pressure surge or wave of water in motion that is forced to stop or change direction and can cause pipe breakage. This commonly occurs when a valve suddenly closes at the end of a pipeline creating a pressure wave.
To serve the Geyserville Water System’s 330 customers and businesses with high-quality water and dependable customer service, CAW acted quickly to correct the water hammer issue. The solution involved adjusting the variance frequency drive (VFD), which helped control the alternative current motor speed and torque. Adjusting the system’s VFD also eliminated the pressure fluctuations caused by the startups of the wells.
Amini’s and Garcia’s knowledge of the system and persistence, successfully and timely resolved the issue before water delivery to CAW’s Geyserville customers was affected.
