cleaning - News - The Coastal Star2024-03-29T10:43:41Zhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/feed/tag/cleaningDelray Beach: Cleaning of drinking water tanks set to finish this monthhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/delray-beach-cleaning-of-drinking-water-tanks-set-to-finish-this-2020-10-28T17:21:09.000Z2020-10-28T17:21:09.000ZMary Kate Leminghttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/MaryKateLeming<div><p><strong>By Rich Pollack</strong></p>
<p>Following through on inquiries from state regulators, Delray Beach’s Utilities Department is finishing up efforts to clean water storage tanks that had not been properly maintained in at least five years, while at the same time it takes steps to enhance maintenance procedures and improve drinking water quality and aesthetics. <br /> “Our goal is to assure that people will be happy with their water and we’re hoping we can also further improve the color of the water,” said Utilities Director Hassan Hadjimiry.<br /> Since September — when the Florida Department of Health began investigating Delray’s failure to inspect and, if necessary, clean water storage tanks at required intervals — the city has completed cleaning of its north water storage tank and last month completed cleaning of its 2-million-gallon south water storage tank. <br /> Cleansing of another south tank, which holds 500,000 gallons, was scheduled to be completed by the end of October and cleaning of the city’s clear well — a tank that contains water as it moves through the treatment process — is set to begin in early November. That cleaning will take up to three weeks. <br /> Once that project is completed, Delray Beach will have cleaned all of its water storage tanks and will be in compliance with state regulations that require water storage tanks to be inspected and cleaned at least every five years. <br /> The city is still awaiting results of the state health department’s investigation into the storage tank cleaning, as well as an investigation into an issue Delray Beach had with reclaimed water commingling with drinking water.<br /> Those issues are also the focus of an inquiry by the Palm Beach County Office of Inspector General, which will make recommendations for corrective actions, should they be needed.<br /> Hadjimiry and his team are already a few steps ahead of that investigation, having instituted several new processes and procedures. <br /> In recent weeks Hadjimiry has implemented a new method of tracking tank inspections and cleanings, with the process now becoming the responsibility of the department’s regulatory compliance division. Additional maintenance activities are being tracked through a public-asset management program that tracks projects to completion. <br /> Under Hadjimiry, who came to Delray Beach from Palm Beach County Water Utilities in June, the department also stocks critical parts so they’re on hand if needed and the city has vendor contracts in place to provide parts and service on short notice. <br /> The department is also in the process of hiring a new water plant manager, filling a position that has been vacant since May.<br /> “We’re going to do the most we can do for the overall quality of water,” Hadjimiry said, reinforcing his contention that the city’s drinking water is safe and in compliance with state and federal regulations. <br /> One of several projects the Utilities Department has planned going forward is a study of ways to improve the aesthetics of the water coming out of faucets. An often-repeated complaint from residents is that Delray’s water is discolored, frequently with a yellow tint. <br /> Hadjimiry said he hopes to further improve the color through a combination of processes. “I want to see if we can bring up the color of the water,” he said.<br /> Also in the works is a study to see if the city can provide an extra level of disinfection into the water treatment process, one that goes beyond regulations and is currently used by the Palm Beach County Water Utilities department. <br /> The city Utilities Department recently completed cleaning of the aerators used in the water treatment process and Hadjimiry is expected to ask the City Commission to approve spending $900,000 to replace filters that are critical to the treatment process. Ú</p></div>Boca Raton: Beach-goers encouraged to use city’s buckets to gather debrishttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/boca-raton-beach-goers-encouraged-to-use-city-s-buckets-to-gather2020-01-01T16:59:43.000Z2020-01-01T16:59:43.000ZMary Kate Leminghttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/MaryKateLeming769<div><p><strong>By Mary Hladky</strong></p>
<p>Many Boca Raton beach-goers make it a point to help keep the beaches clean by picking up trash and plastics on the sand and disposing of them.<br />But now the city has made it easier to do so. They no longer need to bring trash bags with them when visiting the beaches for a stroll or swim.<br />The new Community Coastal Clean Up program provides metal buckets next to signs explaining the program at Red Reef, Spanish River and South Beach parks.<br />Simply pick up a bucket, put debris inside, dump it in green trash cans along the beach and return the bucket.<br />“It’s more about education and awareness,” said City Council member Monica Mayotte, who has long brought compostable bags with her on her beach visits. <br />“You can pick up stuff around where you are sitting. Every little bit helps.”<br />Ocean pollution, especially by plastics, has gained a lot of attention in recent years.<br />A report from the World Economic Forum and Ellen MacArthur Foundation estimated that 165 million tons of plastics are in the oceans. By 2050, the oceans will contain more plastics than fish by weight if nothing changes. <br />Much of the plastic ends up in gigantic garbage patches floating in the oceans, including one the size of Texas. <br />Sea birds, fish, turtles and other marine life ingest it and die. Or they get tangled up in the plastics, leaving them unable to eat or swim. <br />Boca Raton provided a recent example. On Oct. 1, the Gumbo Limbo Nature Center posted a photo on Facebook that went viral of a baby turtle that had washed ashore. A necropsy found that the hatchling had ingested 104 small pieces of plastic.<br />This incident isn’t unusual. A Gumbo Limbo staff member told Live Science that staffers see this every day.<br />Gumbo Limbo, along with the city’s Recreation Services Department and Ocean Rescue, created the cleanup program and the city began promoting it on its website in November.<br />The buckets are located by lifeguard tower 4 in South Beach Park, lifeguard tower 9 in Red Reef Park and lifeguard tower 16 in Spanish River Park.</p></div>Delray Beach: City bent its bidding rules, county sayshttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/delray-beach-city-bent-its-bidding-rules-county-says2013-07-03T18:22:12.000Z2013-07-03T18:22:12.000ZMary Kate Leminghttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/MaryKateLeming769<div><p> Delray Beach has clarified its competitive bidding rules after the county Inspector General said the city bent its rules when it awarded its beach-cleaning contract last January. <br /> Universal Beach Services, the city beach cleaner for 30 years, got the contract for $94,896 after arguing that low bidder Beach Raker couldn’t provide the service for $57,000.<br /> JoAnn Peart, owner of Universal Beach, also accused the city of giving Beach Raker an unfair advantage in the bidding process by allowing it to use a different method of beach cleaning that can pick up trash as small as cigarette butts and bottle caps.<br /> When the Parks and Recreation Department warned that the super cleaner would also suck up seashells, city commissioners paid $37,896 more to keep Universal Beach on the job.<br /> City Manager Louie Chapman said Delray Beach has complied with the Inspector General’s request to clarify the factors including price that determine who gets city contracts. </p>
<p><em>— Tim Pallesen</em></p></div>Delray Beach: Beach-cleaning dustup ends with victory for Universalhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/delray-beach-beach-cleaning-dustup-ends-with-victory-for-universa2013-01-30T21:40:20.000Z2013-01-30T21:40:20.000ZMary Kate Leminghttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/MaryKateLeming769<div><p><strong>By Margie Plunkett</strong><br /> <br />Universal Beach Services Corp. nearly saw 30 years of cleaning the sands of Delray Beach come to an end in the undertow of a low bidder. Commissioners, however, finally awarded Universal the contract after it protested that the beach couldn’t possibly be cleaned for that low price.<br /> Universal of Delray Beach was the middle of three bidders for the beach cleaning contract, offering to do the job for $94,896 annually. Beach Raker was the low bidder, with a $57,000 annual offer and the Beach Groomer came in high at $450,000 a year.<br /> The city now pays Universal $79,000 for three days of cleanup each week, but the new bid expanded that time to five days each week.<br /> Universal Vice President JoAnn Peart, who together with her son, Clayton, owns the company founded by her late husband, John Frederick Peart, brought a protest in November claiming the city gave the low bidder an unfair competitive advantage.<br /> “First, the winning bid included points for extra services which were not part of the bid requirement or request,” according to Peart’s protest.<br /> “Secondly, the city has failed to consider that the alleged winning bidder cannot possibly provide the services required at that bid amount,” Peart wrote in the protest letter.<br /> The Parks and Recreation Department recommended the Beach Raker bid because it was low, but also in part because the Pompano Beach company planned to use a different method of cleaning that would pick up trash as small as cigarette butts and bottle caps, according to a memo from the Ocean Rescue and Parks and Recreation directors. <br /> “The problem with using such equipment is that it also removes all sea shells and other naturally occurring small items from the sand,” the memo said. A few years ago, the Parks staff saw the equipment demonstrated and decided against it.<br /> The memo concludes the city’s action on the low bid put Universal at an unfair disadvantage “because they were not given the opportunity of submitting a bid using this equipment,” staff said, noting Universal said it would clean the beach using the same equipment if the city wanted it to.<br /> The staff did a price comparison with other cities that Beach Raker served, observing that Delray Beach seemed to require more of its contractor and that Beach Raker’s bid was about 40 percent less than it charged its other cities. <br /> “We have had bad experience in the past with contractors who underbid a contract and either gave poor quality service or ultimately walked away from the contract altogether,” the memo said. </p></div>