King County Water District 54 defended its service to downtown Des Moines, dubbed the Waterland Community, during a Nov. 1 city council meeting.

"There's no specific concern we have other than a rapid shut off in the water system," district engineer John Doe told the lawmakers.

Last month, South King Fire and Rescue submitted to the council a report on that agency's concern about water pressure being to low to fight fires in the city core of businesses and condominiums.

A rapid shut off occurs when the fire department uses a hydrant, then shuts it off quickly. This can cause a change in velocity in the piping which, in turn, can damage pipes.

"It doesn't take much change on velocity to damage water pipes," Doe said.

Council members, fire department officials and water district commissioners appeared eager to find an answer to the problem of providing and maintaining adequate pressure.

The water district has estimated that a new water-delivery system in the downtown area would cost around $2.4 million. However the district lacks the financial capacity to borrow the money needed.

In addition, a larger water storage system would be needed to provide a consistent flow of at the desired pressure.

In a statement released Oct. 18, Water District 54 commissioners said "required fire flows range from 1,000 gallons per minute (gpm) for residential structures to 8,000 gpm, and flow durations vary from two to four hours, depending on the required flow.

They added that the district continues "to challenge the basis for [a recommended] 5,000 gpm goal. The cost to meet this goal has been estimated at well over $5 million, with additional storage capacity being about half of that amount."

Both the district and the council have been lobbying the state Legislature for funding of a water system improvement project for the past year.

"I have been saying that the fire flow in inadequate for years," Mayor Pro-Tem Scott Thomasson said. "I think that [water] customers are allowed to have adequate fire flow to protect them."

South King Fire Marshall Ron Biesold earlier told the council that while an ideal pressure rating is 3,500 gpm, in the future a greater amount may be needed.

Tapping into ... many hydrants at once is just unrealistic when you rely on seconds to fight a fire," Biesold said last week. "With the other districts we deal with, this isn't an issue having to pick and choose which hydrant to use."

Water commissioners noted in their statement, "The District has acknowledged that our system's capability to deliver 3,500 gpm to the downtown area is marginal"

But, it added, "Our recent project provided the storage and pumping capacity to deliver that flow for three hours."

In addition, the previous council discussion did not address "replacement of the older pipes to deliver that flow to each parcel in the downtown area ... [which] will soon result in implementing these distribution system improvements."

Solving the problem, according to fire officials, will require a new system with larger pipes in downtown Des Moines.

How such a project would be funded has not been determined.

Water district studies have found that larger-diameter piping would be the best long-term solution to the problem. Many water pipes in the downtown area are over 40 years old.

New piping would consist of a 12-inch pipe along Marine View Drive with smaller 8-inch pipes running down 6th and 8th Avenues South.

Council members also expressed concern at last month's meeting about the construction, including tearing up Marine View Drive.

New pipe probably would be installed at about 200 feet a day if the project were to take place.

A merger between the larger Highline Water District and Water District 54 has been discussed, but that would offer no immediate solution to the problem, according to the commissioners.

The city of Des Moines twice has taken formal steps to assume Water District 54, but neither action was completed.

Earlier this year, the district noted it invested over $3.5 million just a few years ago to provide the storage and delivery that the city and the former Des Moines Fire District agreed was needed.

The district also stated it supports downtown redevelopment, but gets no additional revenue from new development that would enable it to upgrade or expand water lines without other funding.