Inside view of the Santa Teresa Industrial Plant.
In accordance with Camino Real Regional Utility Authority’s (CRRUA) commitment to provide its customers timely information, CRRUA reports a flow meter malfunction at the Santa Teresa Industrial Plant (STIP) arsenic treatment facility resulted in the facility being taken offline for approximately eighteen hours between Feb. 21 – 22, 2024.
“Treatment facility operators were beginning to backwash the arsenic filter media at the STIP at 9:30 a.m. on Feb. 21, when the flow meter malfunctioned,” said CRRUA interim executive director Juan Carlos Crosby. “The meter registered zero flow even though water was flowing through the system.”
According to Crosby, the flow meter measures the amount of water that goes through the facility and determines the amount of chemicals needed to treat the water as set by the certified operator. He said when the flow meter fails, it automatically shuts down all chemical feeds to prevent the release of chemicals into the system.
“At 3:30 p.m. on Feb. 21, the certified treatment facility operator and I determined that the best course of action was to take the STIP offline until the situation was remedied.” Crosby said the flow meter became operational and functioning properly on its own overnight and the STIP was placed back online at approximately 9:30 a.m. on Feb. 22.
“The STIP is functioning properly now,” Crosby said. “At no time did customers go without water because they received water from the facility’s storage tank.” He said an electronics specialist will be brought in to provide a diagnostic examination of the malfunctioning component and if needed the component will be replaced.
Crosby said CRRUA provided immediate notification of the situation to the New Mexico Environment Department.
He said CRRUA continues daily water monitoring and twice monthly field water sampling, along with increased flushing of the arsenic filter media that removes or reduces the amount of naturally occurring arsenic in the water.
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