Every day, Las Vegas Valley Water District (LVVWD) customers flush, shower, cook meals, and irrigate their landscapes unaware of a vast network of largely invisible water infrastructure that brings highly treated water from Lake Mead to their homes and businesses.
Delivering a reliable water supply to every tap and fire hydrant requires a tremendous amount of infrastructure. The LVVWD’s enormous pumping stations can move 1.25 million gallons of water a minute through the 7,000-mile labyrinth of transmission and distribution pipelines.
The LVVWD can store nearly a billion gallons of water in its 82 reservoir basins and tanks. These concrete and metal behemoths provide water to more than 400,000 homes and businesses.
Discreetly tucked behind stucco walls in neighborhoods throughout the LVVWD’s 300-plus-square-mile service area, the reservoirs rely on gravity to deliver water to properties. Using this natural force instead of pumping water uphill increases service reliability and reduces power costs associated with operating pumps.
Because gravity feeds water to properties, the sitting of the drinking water reservoirs is anything but random. LVVWD engineers choose a location based on the elevation and number of customers to be served. The reservoirs are strategically positioned upgradient from customers, allowing gravity to push the water through the water lines and build pressure.
Capitalizing on the Las Vegas Valley’s topography has two advantages. The first is decoupling water delivery from the community’s electrical grid. Because almost all customers are “gravity fed,” a power outage won’t cause an immediate water service interruption. The second advantage is reduced energy costs, which directly benefit customers.
LVVWD’s water system operators fill reservoirs during “off-peak” hours when electrical costs are at their lowest, so that energy use is minimal during times when water use is high. This small operational adjustment yields huge financial dividends to the LVVWD and its customers because the treatment and delivery of water is the single greatest use of electricity in Southern Nevada and a significant component of the cost of providing water to the valley.
Like all facilities, reservoirs have a finite service life. The LVVWD invests in maintaining, upgrading, and replacing the millions of components, reservoirs, and other facilities that comprise the water delivery system. These investments have paid off. Instances of water main breaks in the Las Vegas Valley are below the national average and the water system efficiency rating is considered world class.
The current LVVWD capital improvement plan includes a range of infrastructure projects and investments to maintain, upgrade and expand the community’s drinking water system. Projects include replacing and repairing aging water pipelines; constructing new reservoirs, pipelines, and pumping facilities; installing backflow prevention devices to protect water quality; and maintaining and replacing groundwater wells and pumps used to augment the valley’s main Colorado River water supply.
Proactively updating and replacing aging infrastructure ensures reliable water service for LVVWD customers. In addition, preemptive maintenance and replacement saves the community millions of dollars in costly repairs while also being less disruptive to residents than conducting emergency repairs or fixing water system failures.
For more information about the LVVWD’s infrastructure reinvestment initiative, visit www.lvvwd.com.
