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Earthquake
Photos
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Glossary
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Page Two
A Scenario...
3:36 am... It hits without warning! One after another, sharp jolts slam into a wide area of the state. Buildings sway and clouds of choking dust rise from the surrounding countryside as the underlying strata strains to realign itself. The air is filled with fireworks as power line transformers fail in rapid succession, plunging the whole area into blackness.
At Blue Mountain Water District's "Reservoir One", high in a remote corner of the foothills, a FLO-LOC Seismic Controller registers ground motion well over its pre-set threshold, signaling, through its battery back-up system, a pair of FLO-PAK actuators. Immediately huge valves begin to close under the actuator's standby power. Water gushes briefly from dozens of underground pipeline breaks, then subsides as the water is quickly held back / protected at the source.
The event is imaginary but the description is all too real. Anyone who lives and works in "earthquake country" knows that it's only a matter of time until a seismic event strong enough to damage valves and water lines will come along. Until now, if valves and reservoirs weren't protected during their initial construction, that was just too bad. By the time someone got to the site to close the valves by hand, there wasn't much water left to save.
Now, all that has changed. FLO-LOC can "retrofit your site with a Seismic Protection System consisting of a model FL1000 Seismic Controller linked to model FP3200 Valve Actuators on your key valves and powered by hi-tech, standby batteries. Installation is surprisingly quick and easy and the price is way less than what you've probably imagined.
If you ever wished for an absolutely reliable method of shutting down your system after a serious earthquake -- one that didn't require periodic recalibration in the field, yet remained unaffected by desert heat and bitter cold -- you will appreciate the FLO-LOC Seismic Controller. And if you ever had to use a "T bar: to close a 150 turn butterfly valve with agonizing slowness, you will REALLY appreciate our FLO-PAK 24 Volt DC Valve Actuator.
Now for the best news of all! That seismic safety package you've just added to your system has become a 24-hour-a-day "control" system. If you've hooked everything up to your remote SCADA system you can regulate your flow at the touch of a button. You'll never have stuck valves again either since you can now exercise them remotely on a regular basis.
If these sound like pretty good reasons to invest in a FLO-LOC Seismic Retrofit Package and your would like more detailed information, give our Representatives a call !
Earthquake Photos
The following photos
are from the Landers, California earthquake in 1992. This installation was
at the epicenter
of the earthquake. These photos illustrate some of the terms and definitions
we reviewed in Flo-Notes 
,
and illustrate a portion of the primary damage that can earthquakes can do
to a water facility. See our Installations
page, where Flo-Loc is installed and monitoring these facilities. If your
tank is tough, Flo-Loc will handle the rest!
On June 28, 1992, at 4:57 a.m., the largest earthquake (Ms 7.5) to hit California since 1952, struck near the small, high desert community of Landers, California. Water distribution systems suffered damage to pipelines and storage tanks and hundreds of water line breaks were reported. Water customers were without water for up to two weeks.
Mike Kessler, Vice President of FLO-LOC, Inc., took the photos you see here three days after the earthquake. As you can see the damage was so severe that nothing, not even FLO-LOC, could have saved their water. But it does serve as a reminder as to just how bad an earthquake can be, especially if you had the bad luck to build your water reservoir directly over the epicenter of a major earthquake.
As evidenced by rub marks on the filler pipe, this reservoir was literally tossed one meter into the air and dropped, splitting its seams and creating a classic "elephant's foot" bulge at the base. Its water drained away in a matter of seconds. Telltale wrinkles around the top of the tank show the effects of "seesh", water sloshing inside the tank.
Earthquake
damage, with the epicenter right under the Reservoir !
Click on images below for an enlarged view.
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Groundbreaking
force
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Force
so great,
seams split! |
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1023-F Calle Sombra,
San Clemente, CA 92673
(800)
794-7562
(949) 498-7310
email:
Info@FLO-LOC.com
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