Intake Facility

The water intake facility and pumping plant is located on the Sacramento River, upstream of the town of Freeport, and will divert water and pump it through pipelines to other FRWP facilities.

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Fast Facts

• Pump building footprint: 20,500 square feet (approximately 0.5 acre)
• Building height: 40 feet
• Depth of pump bays: -10 feet below river level
• A fish screen system within the intake structure with an automated screen cleaning system
• Sixteen fish screens will be installed. Screens are approximately ten foot lengths.
• Fish screen capacity: 290 cubic feet per second
• Eight 2,000 horsepower motors
• Eight vertical turbine pumps are set in place.
• Pumps have the capacity to pump 185 million gallons of water per day
• Pump efficiency: Approx. 95%
• Three concrete-lined settling basins for sediment collection
• Innovative chain-in-flight sediment collection system to prevent sediment build-up in the pump bays
• A dedicated electrical substation
• Four pressurized surge tanks
• Main discharge flow meter vaultd
• Pump discharge valve vault
• Equipment Building for storage and offices
• An 84-inch diameter concrete-lined steel pipeline extending from the intake to a point just east of Interstate 5 for connection with the Segment 1 pipeline

Raw Water Process

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The FRWA pump building takes in water through fish screens into two forebays, located below the pump building. From the forebays, water flows to pump inlets at the rear wall of the building. The water is lifted out of the forebays by eight vertical turbine pumps and then flows through eight individual 30-inch diameter pipes. The pipes converge into one 72-inch diameter pipe, which continues through a meter vault. Beyond the meter vault, the pipe diameter increases to 84 inches and tunnels under Freeport Boulevard and Interstate 5. The pipe continues 12 miles eastward where it splits into two 72-inch pipes; one extending one mile north to the SCWA treatment plant, and the other continuing four miles east to the Folsom South Canal for use by EBMUD.

Fish Screens

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Sixteen fish screens, each approximately 10 feet wide, are installed along the river side of the pump building. The 1.75 millimeter openings in the screens are designed to protect salmon and steelhead fry, Delta smelt, and other fish from entrainment or entering the pumps. The screens are cleaned by a brush system that runs along the outside of the screens. Log booms protect the screens and brush from floating debris.

Surge Tanks

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The four surge tanks on the site are each 12 feet in diameter and 65 feet long. Each is filled with water and compressed air and is connected to the main 84-inch pipeline. The compressed air acts as a shock absorber to prevent water hammer during changes in system flow.

Sedimentation Basins

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The three sedimentation basins are part of the system to settle particles out of the raw water before it gets pumped to SCWA and EBMUD facilities. As water is taken into the forebays, a large portion of the sediment carried by the river water settles to the floor of the forebays. This sediment is scraped from the forebay floor into a sump via a fiberglass chain-and-flight system. It is then pumped, with some water, out to the sedimentation basins. Normally, one basin is filled with water and settling the collected sediment, another is drying the sediment for removal, and the third is cycling between modes. After the settling process is completed, the clean water is returned to the forebay, drawn into the main pumps, and distributed through the pipelines to SCWA and EBMUD facilities.

Landscaping

The 5-acre landscaped area serves as a buffer between the project site and adjacent residences. The design reflects the rippling effect of a water drop. The landscaped area is planted with droughttolerant vegetation, including some California-native plants and trees.