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The Great Lakes Water Authority (GLWA), at a news conference recently, announced improvements to regional system resiliency in preparation for southeast Michigan’s upcoming wet weather season. Resiliency efforts include improvements to the utility power supply feeding its pump stations, changes to operational procedures and enhanced collaboration and coordination with member partner communities.
One of the most significant improvements made to-date is related to the supply of power to the Freud and Blue Hill Pump Stations on Detroit’s eastside. Recently, GLWA and its contractors completed the installation of three new transformers at the Freud Pump Station and successfully converted the external power supply feeding the transformers to DTE Energy power via three independent power feeds. Additionally, two transformers at the Blue Hill Pump Station have been converted to the DTE Energy power grid and are fully operational.
As a part of the conversion processes at Freud and Blue Hill, the GLWA-maintained and operated electrical equipment at both pump stations was tested and found to be in good working condition.
“Connection to a reliable, high quality external power supply is essential to GLWA’s ability to consistently operate the regional system, no matter the weather conditions, and its efforts to help protect health and safety of its member partner communities,” said Navid Mehram, Chief Operating Officer, Wastewater Operating Services, GLWA. “We are grateful to DTE Energy for their collaboration throughout this conversion process, which will be completed over the next few months when the Baby Creek and Woodmere Pump Stations on Detroit’s westside are converted and we look forward to a strong working relationship as we move into the future.”
Additional actions that GLWA has taken to-date to improve system resiliency include:
- Installation of Power Quality Monitoring Systems (PQMs) on the Conners Creek, Freud and Blue Hill Pump Stations and all wet weather treatment facilities, which provide advance notice regarding power outages and help in diagnostics of power quality-related issues;
- Development of additional operational strategies for larger rain events to help reduce the risk of basement backups;
- Review and recalibration of instrumentation throughout the system;
- Reinspection of approximately more than 25 miles of the regional system, which is about 13 percent of the total GLWA regional sewer system, following the 2021 rain events;
- Increased frequency of notification of extreme wet weather events to the public through digital channels and the media;
- Expansion of coordination with member partner communities on both the eastside and westside of the regional system, including establishing lines of communication with public works directors to optimize flow through the regional system;
- Ongoing government outreach to discuss resources available for flood mitigation, including more than two dozen meetings with state and federal legislators.
“GLWA has worked diligently over the last nine months to take a close look at our system and our operations to identify how we might do things differently, how we can be best prepared for the severe storms that have been happening with increasing frequency not just locally, but nationally and internationally as a result of climate change,” said Suzanne Coffey, Interim Chief Executive Officer, GLWA. “The immediate changes we have made will certainly assist us in our future wet weather responses. We are also focused on long-term solutions that will need to be addressed regionally. I believe GLWA is well-positioned to lead those conversations, and I remain committed to working with our member partners, regulators and other stakeholders to move the discussion forward.
Since GLWA was established five years ago, it has been focused on making improvements to create a resilient system. GLWA will invest more than $1.7 billion in the region’s water and wastewater infrastructure through its Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) over the next five years, with an expected average annual investment of $345 million. This includes more than $420 million in capital investments in the regional collection system underway or planned to start soon on Detroit’s eastside.
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