Sewer repairs disrupt Kanan

GROUNDWORK- Workers examine the sewer meter construction along Kanan Road near Tamarind Street in Agoura Hills. The meters are a more accurate way to measure sewage flow than the 40-year-old flumes that are at the location now. Sewer-related construction work will disrupt traffic for the next several weeks on Kanan Road by Tamarind Street near Oak Park.

The left northbound lane on Kanan Road starts to narrow at Fountainwood Street in Agoura Hills, and is blocked completely at Tamarind Street in Oak Park where left turns are prohibited.

The Las Virgenes Municipal Water District is digging up Kanan Road to replace outdated concrete vaults called flumes.

According to David Lippman, the water district's director of facilities and operations, flumes are devices that measure sewage flow through the vaults and into the main sewage system.

Waste from Oak Park flows through the measuring station on Kanan Road to the Tapia Treatment Plant in Malibu where it undergoes treatment.

"Flumes require a lot of maintenance," Lippman said.

Lippman said the 40-year-old concrete vaults and flumes posed hazards and needed to be calibrated and cleaned on a regular basis. A new, so-called velocity metering system is being installed that will lead to more accurate measurements and reduce maintenance costs and risks.

The meter will measure the amount of sewage that comes into the Las Virgenes system from the district's Oak Park partner, the Triunfo Sanitation District.

Lippman said he expects the new system to be completed by early September. The cost to convert the three vaults into a single unit will be almost $500,000.

"That investment should reap some decent returns down the road in regard to maintenance," said Jeff Reinhardt, the water district's customer service and public affairs manager. "Getting that vault out of the road will reduce the need to occasionally close off the road. (It will) reap smoother traffic flow in the future."