By: David Islas, Construction Manager
A Year of Excellence
In 2024, Suburban’s Engineering Department excelled, completing numerous projects that promise long-term benefits for our customers, ensuring a safe and reliable water supply. This year marked the most productive in Suburban’s history, with a capital investment exceeding $39 million.
Pipeline Replacements
Our team replaced 5 miles of pipe in the distribution system, balancing our goal of replacing 8.6 miles and not exceeding our budget despite massive inflation of material and labor costs. Pipelines are essential for meeting customer’s daily water needs like showering and ensuring water supply to hydrants for fire fighting.
Significant Projects
Major projects included Mar Vista, Painter and Dittmar, Neil, Scribner, and Sativa Pipelines. The Sativa project was especially challenging, involving the relocation of over 5,000 linear feet (LF) of pipeline and meters from backyards to the street front, improving accessibility for maintenance.
Awards and Recognition
James Cho (Assistant Engineer) and Cristian Ibarra (Assistant Engineer) were pivotal, overseeing these pipeline projects from design to completion. Cristian also managed the well drilling at Plant 429, overcoming various challenges. James and Cristian’s efforts were recognized with the 2024 President’s Award, an honor reflecting their outstanding work and teamwork.
Infrastructure Enhancements
Warjay Naigan (Associate Engineer) led projects to install emergency generators at Plants 506 and 165 that are required to maintain water service during power outages and fill storage tanks used for fire protection. Additionally, the Plant 128 Reservoir project, facilitated by Jacqueline Oceguera (Associate Engineer), replaced a crumbling 100 year old concrete reservoir with a new welded steel tank that is critical as the first in a chain of tanks and pumps required to move water to higher elevations in Hacienda Heights.
Developer Projects
Under the oversight of Laura Sainz (Water Service Planner), we added 118 new customers, and coordinated 359 fire flow availability tests. Victor Mendoza (Engineering Tech - Inspector II), and Jorge Guzman (Engineering Tech - Inspector II) perform these tasks weekly, averaging seven fire flows, to support local economic growth, job creation, and community revitalization.
Engineering Drawings and Compliance
Eryk Aguilar (Designer II), and Juan Silva (Designer II), worked diligently to prepare drawings using Computer Aided Design (CAD) software to design and document projects, ensuring a clear scope of work for contractors to prevent costly change orders and delays. Their detailed work will serve as a guide for our field operations teams long into the future, helping find our underground assets.
Lead and Copper Rule Revision (LCCR) Compliance
Amongst other Capital planning responsibilities, Josie Sun (Asset Management and Planning Engineer) managed a special project to ensure Suburban’s compliance with new Lead and Copper regulations. The project involved identifying the pipe material for 3,400 existing customer house lines, Josie led our effort to secure certification from the State Water Resource Board.
Leadership Transitions
Michael De Ghetto transitioned from Director of Engineering to Vice President of Operations early in 2024. Adam Ly joined us in October as the new Director of Engineering, bringing extensive experience to help achieve our future Capital investment goals.