Every day, about 2.8 million gallons of water flow from the Swatara Creek into a small brick building — the Swatara Creek Intake — on Salmonhole Lane in Jonestown.
Leaves and sticks are filtered from the water as it enters the building. Inside, a second set of screens removes any debris that slipped through the outside screens. Then the raw or untreated water goes into one of four pumps that move it into a 30-inch pipe for its journey to the City of Lebanon Authority’s treatment plant about 3 miles away.
Normally, the creek water flows into the intake without a hitch. But the recent frigid temps have caused ice to form on the Swattie and sometimes on the screens — and that can stop the water flow to the pumps, said Darren Luciotti, water plant manager.
To keep the water moving, the intake building’s two bubblers kick in when the mercury drops below 32 degrees. These put air into the water, lessening the chance that ice will form.
This winter, the bubblers have been in service most of January and February, Luciotti said.
But if the creek should freeze, COLA’s 20,419 customers — or about 57,000 people, according to COLA — would still have water. That supply would come from COLA’s reservoir at the Siegrist Dam in Schuykill County.
That happened in September 2011 when Tropical Storm Lee dumped 18 inches of water in less than 24 hours on the county, flooding the intake building, according to the History of Lebanon, PA’s Water and Sewer Systems, 1872-2022, published in 2022. The Siegrist Dam was only minimally damaged, so COLA could still provide water throughout its system.
“Any plant that is built along a waterway is susceptible to flooding,” Luciotti said.
COLA’s original treatment plant was downstream from the intake building. When the new plant went into service in 1972, the old one was decommissioned and the intake constructed.
But before it went into service, Hurricane Agnes inundated an already-saturated Lebanon County with more than a foot of water. Mud and debris had to be removed from the building, the intake’s newly installed pumps had to be cleaned and tested and electrical equipment replaced. By late September, the Swatara Creek Intake was operational.
COLA is the largest of Lebanon County’s 30 public water systems (PWS) and the only one that relies exclusively on surface water to supply its customers. A public water system, according to DEP, “provides water for human consumption and has at least 15 service connections or regularly serves an average of at least 25 individuals daily at least 60 days out of the year.”
Of the other 29 PWS, 25 use groundwater wells, one uses a well that is under the direct influence of surface water (GUDI well) and three purchase surface water, John Repetz, a spokesman for the state Department of Environmental Protection, said in an email.
COLA currently sells water to three PWS: Cornwall Borough, Fort Indiantown Gap, and Fredericksburg Sewer and Water Authority.
In 2024, DEP issued COLA a new water allocation permit that allows the authority to withdraw 8 million gallons a day (mgd) from the Siegrist Dam and 10 mgd from Swatara Creek, according to COLA’s 2024 annual report.
Current customer demand is slightly more than 5 mgd, said Jon Beers, COLA executive director, in an email.
While the new permit increased COLA’s total allocated withdrawal, DEP upped the amount of stream water or flowby that must pass by the authority’s intake structures at both the Swatara Creek and Siegrist Dam. Monthly requirements for flowby vary seasonally with higher amounts during the region’s drier months. Since the permit was issued, COLA has had to apply for a temporary reprieve of the flowby requirements due to dry weather and lower than usual creek levels.
“We will be okay with the permit conditions that we got and the ability to get a temporary flowby reprieve permit during severe droughts,” Beers said. “We have no plans for wells presently.”
COLA estimated that in 2024, residential customers used about 134 gallons per day (gpd). Suburban dwellers use more about 145 gpd while communities of smaller homes such as Cleona and West Lebanon only account for about 103 gpd, according to the authority’s 2024 annual report.
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