SFPUC - Annual Reports Stronger Today | Page 4

Annual Report for the Fiscal Year Ending June 30, 2013 3 4 Maintaining and upgrading essential systems Upgrading our Emergency Firefighting Water Supply System The Emergency Firefighting Water Supply System, also known as the Auxiliary Water Supply System (AWSS), delivers high-pressure water for firefighting using two storage tanks, one reservoir and about 135 miles of pipes. This system can also augment fire suppression water supplies via two saltwater pump stations and approximately 200 independent water storage cisterns located throughout the City. In 2013, construction began on the first group of 30 new cisterns to be installed throughout the City. These improvements are part of the $412 million Earthquake Safety and Emergency Response Bond approved by voters in June 2010. Pipe Repair and Replacement Accelerates Every year, we replace miles of water and sewer pipelines to stay ahead of water main breaks and collapsed sewers. This preventive maintenance is important when over 220 miles of our City’s water pipelines are more than 100 years old and more than 60% of our sewer pipelines