Suburban Water Systems’ Plant 128 is a critical water pumping and storage facility in the City of La Puente that meets customer drinking, domestic, irrigation, and firefighting needs in Hacienda Heights.
The site has a 0.5-million-gallon concrete reservoir and six electric booster pumps. The reservoir is over 100 years old and doesn’t meet current seismic structural requirements. The pump station’s electrical equipment is approaching 40 years old, and its steel panels are severely corroded, reducing reliability and safety. The tank and electrical equipment need to be replaced.
Suburban completed the plans, specifications, and permitting required to replace the reservoir and electrical equipment in 2022. Suburban has a contractor onboard and has procured long lead time materials for several months. Construction is scheduled to break ground in the summer of 2023 and is anticipated to be completed in 2024.
The concrete reservoir will be replaced with a new 0.5 million gallons above-ground welded steel tank, and the electrical equipment will be replaced with new electrical panels. An Automatic Transfer Switch (ATS) will be installed with a diesel generator to provide backup power during power outages when fallen branches from windstorms damage powerlines, vehicles hit utility poles, and during Public Safety Power Shutdown (PSPS) events that de-energize power lines to prevent wildfires.
Additional updates on this critical project will be provided during construction.
The image below shows the partially buried reservoir at Plant 128.
