The Champlain Water District (CWD) in South Burlington, Vermont serves a population of approximately 68,000 in 12 municipal water systems in eight communities in northwestern Vermont. The water system, which draws water from Lake Champlain, has an average daily flow of 10 million gallons per day (MGD). The CWD treatment facilities have completely redundant unit processes with the exception of an existing 28-inch spiral welded steel raw water intake pipeline and screened intake structure. The CWD determined that a redundant intake pipeline and intake structure was required to provide consistent, reliable water to its users. The District retained the services of Wright-Pierce (W-P) of Topsham, Maine, to design the new intake structure, intake pipeline, and connection to the existing raw water piping. W-P enlisted GeoDesign of Windsor, Vermont to perform geotechnical investigations of the lake bottom soils. The CWD's existing intake, located in Shelburne Bay on Lake Champlain, is approximately 2,600 feet from shore, in approximately 80-feet of water. The District performed extensive water quality monitoring and lake bottom bathymetry to determine the location in this area of the bay that had the most consistent superior water quality. It was determined that changing depth or location was deleterious to water quality. This led to a decision to locate the new intake pipeline roughly parallel to the existing pipeline, with the intake inlet at the same elevation as the existing intake.
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