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30 Aug 2006  -  United States

Hypalon to store water for Pebble Beach golf courses

The newly commissioned Forest Lake Reservoir supplies recycled water to seven famous golf courses on the spectacular Monterey Peninsula in California, USA, including Cypress Point and US PGA Tour venues Pebble Beach, Spyglass Hill and Poppy Hills. The reservoir was rehabilitated recently with the installation of a long-service liner made of Hypalon chlorosulfonated polyethylene from DuPont Performance Elastomers.

The reservoir liner meets stringent leakproofing, soil stabilizing and environmental demands, in line with new operating permit requirements of the California Department of Water Resources Division of Safety of Dams (DSOD). Consisting of three layers of Hypalon and two layers of woven fabric scrim, the high-performance liner material is expected to have a service life of at least 25 years.

“The DSOD was concerned that if water saturated the reservoir embankments, the stability of the embankments could be affected in an earthquake. Hypalon was used for a similar reservoir rehabilitation project in the Los Angeles area and DSOD approved the 5-ply, 65 mil (1.65 mm) liner of Hypalon and woven fabric scrim. The new liner and leak detection system is designed to keep any stored water from entering the embankments,” said Mike Niccum, district engineer at PBCSD. 

The newly commissioned reservoir covers an area of approximately 93,000m2, and has a permitted water storage capacity of just under 400 million litres. It is a key part of the recycled water distribution system that provides irrigation water to seven top golf courses in the area, and several additional recreation areas in the Del Monte Forest.

Jon Feenstra, project manager of Layfield Environmental Systems, and the site supervisor responsible for onsite field installation, described his company’s involvement in the Forest Lake Reservoir project.

“Layfield Plastics Inc., part of the Layfield Group, fabricated the roll stock of Hypalon, supplied by Burke Industries, into approximately 175 larger panels, the largest being 10.36 metres wide by 61 metres long, for field installation. This is where the Layfield Environmental Systems team took over, installing the panels over the graded and re-excavated site, using a hot wedge welding system and cross-seaming with adhesive patches of Hypalon.”

Flexible geomembrane liners and covers for raw and potable water storage, produced from DuPont Performance Elastomers Hypalon, fulfil the latest demands of municipal reservoir engineers, and meet or exceed US federal regulations such as ANSI/NSF Standard 61, and the American Water Works Association (AWWA) standard D 130-96. 

“Liners and covers of Hypalon have been weathered outdoors for many years with minimal fading and discoloration. They resist ultraviolet radiation, ozone and water treatment chemicals,” says Paul DiAntonio, business development manager, DuPont Performance Elastomers. “The material has a very low thermal expansion coefficient and remains stable yet flexible at high and low temperatures. Repeated freezing and thawing cycles do not cause mechanical damage, and its elasticity allows liners to accommodate limited earth movement.”

Source : DuPont