Robert Steidel Promoted to Deputy Chief Administrative Office of Operations

DPU Director Robert (Bob) Steidel accepted the position of Deputy Chief Administrative Officer of Operations for the City of Richmond, effective Sept. 30, 2017.

The position oversees Public Utilities, Public Works, and Animal Care and Control.

Steidel was appointed director of DPU in March 2011.

Why DPU Cares About Leaf Collection

Last year, the Department of Public Utilities contributed $625,000 to the city’s General Fund for leaf collection. So, why is the Department of Public Utilities concerned about leaf collection? It’s simple, really. When city residents don’t rake and bag their leaves, they have the potential to end up in the sewer system.

Each year, beginning in the fall, the Department of Public Works sweeps and cleans an estimated 22,000 lane miles of streets to keep debris and leaves from clogging the stormwater system. Due to the type of equipment used, only streets with curbs and gutters are routinely swept.

In 2016, 13,521 tons of leaves and debris were collected and accounted for in the annual report the City of Richmond Department of Public Utilities provides to the Department of Environmental Quality.

This is especially important in the Combined Sewer System area of the city, which is the oldest part of the city primarily north of the James River. A Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) occurs after a heavy rain when there is too much water entering the storm basins and the excess water is released into a stream or river. In Richmond, the major overflow points are found on the banks of the James River and Gillies Creek.

There are 29 CSO outfalls located at various points along the James River and within the city’s CSO area.

Leaves clogging the storm drains would create localized flooding and prevent sewage from draining to the CSO outfalls. The proper bagging and disposal of leaves and regular street cleaning schedules play an important role each fall and winter season in the prevention of flooding during heavy rain events.

This year the Department of Public Works has made it easier for residents to dispose of leaves:

1 – Place leaves in bio-degradable bags by your supercan and DPW will pick up to 10 bags on trash day until they are gone

2 – Place bagged leaves out by the published dates and an unlimited number of bagged leaves will be picked up through the end of the corresponding schedule

3 – Pay $30 for vacuum service. Make the request by calling 646-LEAF.

For more information visit http://www.richmondgov.com/PublicWorks/Leafcollection.aspx, email LeafProgram@Richmondgov.com or call 646-LEAF.

Know Where Your Gas Appliances are Located

When a technician comes to your home or apartment to investigate a gas leak or a problem with a natural gas appliance, it saves time and return visits to know where all your natural gas appliances are located.

Is your stove natural gas or electric? If you see blue flames, it's natural gas. Whether water heaters, dryers, or furnaces are natural gas or electric might be harder to tell, but you should know where they are all located, whether in the attic, the basement, a closet, outside, in a utility room of an apartment building.

Also be aware of any other possible natural gas appliances you may have -- generators, gas logs, pool heaters, outdoor grills?

When a service technician is looking, and time is vital, all the help you can provide is important.

DPU Streetlighting Makes "Back to School" a Safe Experience

In 2017, the City of Richmond Department of Public Utilities (DPU) Streetlighting utility was doing its part to keep Richmond Public School (RPS) students safe once they are back in school. With RPS reopening this fall, students will be waiting at school bus stops early in the morning when the city is still dark. The DPU Streetlighting utility has partnered with RPS to ensure that there are no obstructions to streetlights from trees at school bus stops where students will wait to be picked up and transported to their respective school.

In ramped up efforts that began in mid-August with tree trimming at Anne Hardy Park in Richmond’s Highland Park area, DPU Streetlight technicians are trimming any tree branches, limbs and leaves that might hamper or block the light from ornamental lights or cobra head lights positioned at RPS bus stops.   

Although this comes at a time when the DPU Streetlighting utility has adjusted service levels to meet staffing challenges, this effort is being given high priority. 

Ann Hardy Park

DPU and Fire Hydrant Maintenance

In the summer of 2017, CBS 6 and WRVA AM-1140  aired a story concerning fire hydrants and the City of Richmond Department of Public Utilities maintenance and repair of them. What each story failed to mention was that the availability of fire hydrants in the areas of the reported fires that were featured were not a factor in fire suppression. This was confirmed by the Richmond Fire Department in both cases and stated publicly at a public meeting to discuss the matter.

DPU maintains close to 6,500 fire hydrants throughout our service area, and if a fire hydrant is out of service we want to know about it.  At the time of both stories, less than 1 percent of those fire hydrants were out of service. When customers call to report a fire hydrant that is out of service, be sure to get a reference number so that if the hydrant is not repaired within a reasonable time frame, you can call back and receive the status right away.   

DPU is in the process of implementing an automated fire hydrant inspection program that will make tracking and inspection easier.  Under this new system, once fully implemented, every fire hydrant will be inspected at a rate of once per year. 

DPU is always working hard to improve and streamline our systems in order to provide the best possible service to all of the customers we serve.

Fire Hydrants

Fighting fires is a tough job! No one knows that better than the firefighters at the city of Richmond. In 2016, city of Richmond firefighters put out an estimated 528 fires. This includes structural fires, vehicle and brush fires.

The city’s Department of Public Utilities are critical partners in this effort by maintaining the more than 6,000 fire hydrants owned by the city of Richmond. DPU currently inspects fire hydrants under a manual system on a bi-annual basis. By this summer 2017, DPU’s automated fire hydrant inspection program will be in effect, enabling DPU to inspect each one of the 6,000 fire hydrants every 12 months with the goal of one complete circuit per year.

To ensure adequate fire protection, each city owned fire hydrant is within 500 feet of another. Fire engines arrive at a fire with 500 gallons of water to combat the fire. The fire engines are equipped with hoses to reach hydrants within two blocks of any direction.
  

Of the 426 house fires reported over the last year within the city, hydrants have never been reported as being an issue or had any material effect on fire suppression efforts.

Residents with concerns about the operability of fire hydrants should call DPU at (804) 646-8600 

NOTICE to DPU Apartment and Small Commercial Natural Gas Customers

As part of the Department of Public Utilities' (DPU) ongoing commitment to compliance and safety standards, DPU is making apartment and other multi-family residential, as well as small commercial customers, aware of a 2017 regulation issued by federal regulatory agency, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA). This new regulation requires natural gas utilities to offer an Excess Flow Valve (EFV) on new and replaced service lines to its multifamily residential and small commercial customers. 

An Excess Flow Valve (EFV) is a mechanical shut-off device that can be installed on the natural gas service pipeline that runs from the street to the natural gas meter that serves the property. This is also referred to as a “service line."  An EFV is designed to shut off the flow of natural gas automatically if there is a break in the natural gas service line.

As an apartment building and small commercial natural gas customer, you may request that DPU install an EFV on the natural gas line that runs to your property. DPU will inform customers of the actual cost before the final decision.

Please note that EFVs cannot be installed on some service lines due to high gas flow, low pressure or other factors. If you request an EFV but your service line cannot accommodate it, you will be advised of this. Customers who request an EFV whose natural gas load does not exceed 1,000 SCFH (standard cubic feet per hour) must coordinate installation at a mutually agreeable date.

To request that an EFV be installed on your apartment building or small commercial natural gas service line, call DPU's Permitting Office at (804) 646-8544.

For more information concerning this new regulation, click on links below:

PHMSA:

https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/pipeline/final-rule-expands-requirement-for-excess-flow-valves-on-new-and-replaced-gas-distribution-pipelines

American Public Gas Association:

https://www.apga.org/blogs/john-erickson/2016/10/20/phmsa-issues-excess-flow-valve-rule

Clean and Safe Water: Our Commitment to You

Clean and safe water. It is something everyone expects when they turn on the tap in their home. During the moments teeth are being brushed, water glasses are being filled or showers are being taken not many think about the source of the water. Clean and safe water takes work. Considering the city of Richmond’s water supply is the James River, consider the work it takes to pull water from that body of water to transform it into something we normally don’t give a second thought to consuming.

The city of Richmond’s Department of Public Utilities has a robust water treatment plant, which produces award-winning water. The water it delivers meets and exceeds federal and state water quality standards including those regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Through the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA), the EPA mandates the monitoring of various contaminants to ensure levels found in drinking water have no adverse health effects. With ongoing research and cautionary actions prompted by various factors, the spotlight on particular contaminants occasionally rise to the level of public concern. Chromium is a recent one.

Chromium is a naturally occurring contaminant that is in water supplies. It is an odorless and tasteless metallic element. According to the EPA, “chromium is found naturally in rocks, plants, soil, volcanic dust, and animals. Chromium-6 occurs naturally in the environment from the erosion of natural chromium deposits. It can also be produced by industrial processes. There are demonstrated instances of chromium being released to the environment by leakage, poor storage, or inadequate industrial waste disposal practices.

“The national primary drinking water regulation that established the [maximum contaminant level] for total chromium of 0.1 mg/l was promulgated in 1991. The SDWA requires EPA to periodically review the national primary drinking water regulation for each contaminant and revise the regulation, if appropriate. EPA reviewed total chromium as part of the second six-year review that was announced in March 2010. The Agency noted in March 2010 that it had initiated a reassessment of the health risks associated with chromium exposure and that the Agency did not believe it was appropriate to revise the national primary drinking water regulation while that effort was in process.”

To assess the levels of chromium-6 in drinking water, EPA is requiring a selected number of systems to perform chromium-6 monitoring under the third Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Regulation (UCMR 3). The city of Richmond has undergone four rounds of this testing. Test results have shown chromium-6 concentrations of between 0.00013 and 0.00052 mg/L. Currently, chromium-6 is unregulated by EPA.

However, there are EPA limits for total chromium, which would include the chromium-6 form. The regulatory limit for total chromium in drinking water is 0.1 mg/L. The City's results for total chromium on the same UCMR 3 testing events resulted in concentrations between 100 and 238 times lower than the EPA standard. The chromium-6 concentrations are even less. In comparison, California has some of the strictest limits for chromium-6 in the country. They set a limit of 0.01 mg/L for chromium-6 in drinking water. The City's water is well below this standard by a factor of 20 or more.

After incidents like the contaminated drinking water supply in Flint, Michigan, more people are paying closer attention to the quality of water they are consuming from their tap. Citizens should expect the providing authority to ensure the delivery of clean and safe drinking water and communicate issues openly and respond to customer questions. The city of Richmond goes above and beyond and consistently meets federal and state drinking water standards for public health.

Pilot Program to Find Alternatives to Permeable Pavement Receives Funding

The State Water Control Board in 2017 authorized funding from the Virginia Water Facilities Revolving Fund to the City of Richmond of an interest-free loan in an amount up to approximately $1.3 million.

The loan will be used to finance a pilot program to identify the benefits and cost-effectiveness of alternatives to permeable pavement surfaces in city alleyways, and the impact of these alternatives on storm water runoff reduction.

My Water Smells Like Sulfur

If your tap water smells like sulfur or rotten eggs, there's probably sulfur bacteria and hydrogen sulfide gas in your building's water supply. If you only smell it when you turn on the hot water, it is highly probable it's a problem inside your hot water heater. In most instances, the water is still safe to drink, but hydrogen sulfide can damage your pipes as it is corrosive to many types of metal. It can cause black stains on silverware and plumbing fixtures.

Drain your water heater, and then turn on the hot water taps and let them all run for about 10 minutes to clear out the water still in the pipes. Raise the temperature of the hot water heater for 145 degrees for eight hours, but only if your hot water heater has a functioning temperature and pressure relief valve. Be sure to warn everyone in the household that the water will be unusually hot, and after eight hours, turn your water heater back to 120 degrees and not less. Less encourages bacteria growth, but higher than 120 can result in scalding burns.

If this doesn't solve the problem , then you may have to get a plumber to replace the magnesium anode rod -- if you have one -- with an aluminum one in your hot water heater.

If the smell is limited to the kitchen sink, then you have a partially clogged drain or a dirty garbage disposal.

DPU Wins 2017 National Environmental Achievement Award

My Water Smells and Tastes Like Bleach

Occasionally we receive calls from customers complaining that their water smells or tastes like bleach. People often associate the smell of chlorine with bleach. Chlorine is added to public water systems as a disinfectant to eliminate any possibility of waterborne disease. Small traces of chlorine in your water is not harmful and is actually required by the Environmental Protection Agency.

If it is too much for your taste, try boiling your tap water or chilling it in the refrigerator. Both methods will remove the bleach smell. Filtered water coolers or pitchers with carbon filters will remove the smell and taste of chlorine. You can also install carbon filters at the tap.

Sensitivity to the odor of chlorine varies among consumers, so you may find your water disagreeable, but your neighbors may not notice.

The Facts on Leaks

Your Toilet is Not a Trash Can

Explaining High Customer Bills

The city of Richmond Department of Public Utilities (DPU) receives a fair share of customer calls concerning high utility bills. Recently, there was one such example in the media from a customer contending that they were overcharged. More often than not, there is more to the story than what the media reports when their community reporters investigate. The following is an explanation of how a customer bill can be impacted when it is not paid on time and the customer does not contact our Customer Care center for assistance early:

It is very easy for utility bills to snowball. When balances are left or payments are skipped, not only is that payment still due, but there are late fees that are assessed. If the same payment amount is made every month, regardless of whether its winter and gas usage is likely higher, in just a few months, the bill will accumulate enough of an unpaid balance to trigger a disconnection warning.

Say you move to a new residence. Unpaid bills from old accounts in your name follow you. So your first bill at a new address may be a surprise to you, but it shouldn’t be, because you still owe for utilities used by you at a former address. The bill doesn’t stay with the address. It travels with the account holder.

In order to open a residential utility account in the city of Richmond, a customer or applicant may be required to pay a security deposit if they have a history of paying utility bills late. The security deposit is $100 for water service and $200 for gas service. These charges will appear on the first utility bill. There is also a service establishment fee of $35 each for gas and for water. This fee covers the administrative cost of establishing the account. These charges will also appear on the first utility bill. Understandably, it may seem like a lot to pay on the first bill and the temptation may be to let it roll over to future bills. But, it's important to remember that late fees will then be added on, and eventually the balance will snowball into an amount triggering a disconnection notice.

Water leaks can be devastating to a customer’s utility bill total, and also hard to spot if there is a large

unpaid balance being carried over from month to month. This can happen when only partial payments or no payments are made on the account. If a spike in your water charges is seen and you know it is definitely not a past due amount – look at individual lines on your bill, not just the bottom line. Then contact DPU Customer Care immediately to discuss the increase in your water consumption. If necessary, DPU will perform a site inspection to see what may be causing the increased water consumption. If it is found that the leak is on the city side of the meter, your bill will be adjusted 100 percent for the excess water and wastewater charges.

We try our best to come to a resolution with all of our customers, but there is not much we can do if a customer’s bill-paying strategy is to skip payments or make partial payments until the bill becomes excessively high. There are equal monthly payment plans available to deal with seasonal spikes in heating bills to make your monthly payment uniform year-round.

And when you call us, please stay calm and help us work with you. Our Customer Care representatives work with compassion and empathy, but if customers become angry to the point of shouting or using inappropriate language or making threats, Customer Care representatives have the right to disconnect the call. After all, we are here to help you.

Why Your Water Bill May Be Higher Than Usual

Over the last few weeks, the Department of Public Utilities (DPU) has received a number of customer calls concerning unusually high water bills. A thorough investigation of customer accounts by the DPU Customer Care team found that most of the increases were caused by a combination of watering from irrigation systems combined with the end of DPU’s summer sewer discount period. 

Here’s how it works:  Normally, wastewater charges are based on the volume of water a customer uses. That's why you will see on your bill the amount of CCF for wastewater is often the same as the amount of CCF for water.  However, for a residential customer during the months of March through November, DPU bases the amount of wastewater CCF on either the customer’s average monthly wastewater volume for the months of December through February, or the actual amount of wastewater CCF for the billing period, whichever is less.  DPU refers to this as the summer sewer discount.

DPU provides this discount because many customers during the months of March through November use water for activities beyond daily personal needs. Some of these activities include, but are not limited to, lawn and garden irrigation, car washing, swimming pool maintenance, and more. The water used during these activities does not make its way into the sewer system for treatment at DPU’s wastewater treatment plant, so DPU’s summer sewer discount eases the wastewater charge for customers during these months when water consumption from such activities is found to be the highest.

As a result, customers who irrigate far into November, and who have a meter reading period on their December bill which includes water consumed for irrigation, have seen a significant jump in the wastewater portion of their water bill.  This is because the wastewater charge for the months of December through February is based upon actual water volume consumed.  Many customers probably never noticed the jump before because they did not continue to irrigate their lawns and gardens late into the season when the summer sewer discount is no longer in effect.

If a customer experiences an increase in his or her wastewater volume during December as a result of activities such as lawn and garden irrigation, the customer may contact DPU’s Customer Care Center at 646-7000 to request an adjustment to their wastewater charge.

Gas Meter Snow Safety Tips

Did you know accumulated snow and ice can damage natural gas meters and pipes?

Using a broom to keep gas service equipment clear during the winter can help ensure safe use of natural gas.

Chimneys and vents for gas appliances should also be cleared following a major snow or ice storm to enable proper venting and prevent equipment malfunction and carbon monoxide poisoning. Make sure to locate your vents before the first storm of the season.

Here are some more winter natural gas safety tips:

• Remove snow and ice from the meter or appliance vent pipe carefully with a broom or by hand. Do not use a shovel because it can damage the meter. 
• Do not shovel snow up against the meter or vent pipe. 
• Remove icicles from overhead eaves and gutters to assure dripping water does not splash and freeze on the meter or vent pipes. 
• Do not kick your gas meter to break or clear ice. 
• Clear a path to the meter so that Public Utilities employees or emergency responders can access it.