February 14, 2019

Water plant's snowy roof collapses

Photo provided by the city of Everett [enlarge]

The new roof at Everett’s water filtration plant near Monroe was completed last summer.

The new roof on a water storage structure at Everett's water filtration plant near Monroe collapsed under the weight of snow early Tuesday morning.

T Bailey was the design-build contractor for the roof, which the company completed over the summer under a $3.1 million contract. The old roof was more than 35 years old and was dilapidated.

City engineering staff inspected the damage yesterday, joined by the contractor, plant manager and the city construction inspector.

A spokeswoman for the city said no estimate for the repairs is available yet.

Representatives from T Bailey didn't immediately return a message seeking comments on Wednesday.

The roof contract included a $21,952 four-year extended warranty.

The plant stores water that travels directly to the city's four transmission lines for delivery to Everett and its water wholesale customers.

In the plant are two water storage structures, or clearwells, that store water that is ready to be delivered.

The two structures feed a common pipe and are usually connected.

After the roof collapse, the 5.2 million-gallon east clearwell was isolated and removed from service. The 6.75 million-gallon west clearwell was undamaged and continues to function normally.

On Tuesday plant crews immediately began water quality testing following the roof collapse and contacted the state Department of Health. Measurements showed the water quality is high and disinfection is adequate, according to the city.

Lab results from additional water sampling were expected on Wednesday.