Partner Spotlight: Valley, Nebraska

Background: The City of Valley, Nebraska has contracted with PeopleService for its water and wastewater operations since 1991.

The Issue: Due to an aging infrastructure, the city’s water supply had elevated levels of nephelometric turbidity units (NTU), which can affect water clarity. The NTU level was around 50, with the goal being zero. Replacing the city’s pipes was cost prohibitive, so Valley needed a different solution.

The PeopleService Solution:

Nebraska Region Manager Mike Adair had heard of a method called “ice pigging” that a nearby community had used to address the same issue. Ice pigging is relatively new – it’s only been used in the United States for about 12 years – but has proven to be very effective. Ice pigging involves pushing salted ice – slush – through the pipes at a high rate. As it moves through the pipes, it essentially scrapes and flushes sediment.

“Everything that can be knocked off because of a little pressure, because of a water main, because of a water hammer – all of that will be removed,” Adair told Omaha’s KETV, which aired a story on the project. “We started looking into it as an option instead of replacing all the mains because that’s an enormous cost to citizens.”

In 2023, Adair reached out to a Midwestern company that specializes in ice pigging. They were able to schedule a time in June 2024 for the company to work in Valley. They ice pigged a portion of the city’s pipes and saw immediate results – much more effective than standard hydrant flushing. Future visits were scheduled to complete the process for the rest of the city.

“We started looking into it as an option instead of replacing all the mains because that’s an enormous cost to citizens.”

– Mike Adair
Regional Manager
PeopleService