Proctor Mechanical Corporation was selected to install a new water softening system in the Iowa Correctional Institute for Women, in Mitchellville, Iowa. The project required furnishing and installing 6 Kinetico water softeners, connected to an 8” copper manifold. The project included site utility work, a small building structure, adding back flow preventers and reconfiguring water services to four buildings, two of which were secured access. 

The Iowa Correctional Institute for Women in Mitchellville, Iowa added water conditioning systems to their campus in the fall of 2014. Proctor Mechanical Corporation was contracted to perform the project in a 3-month timeframe; September - December 2014. The project included new 8” cold water service and 8” soft water service from the boiler plant to the booster station building. There was no room in the booster station for this piping so a building structure was added to serve as a pipe chase. The new services had to be tied into the existing booster pumps without shutting off water supply to the campus. Proctor Mechanical Corporation worked with Brooks Borg Skiles and determined a way to bypass the pumps to allow continued water supply to the faciltiy. All the necessary pipe valves and fittings for the tie-in were prefabricated at Proctor Mechanical Corporation’s shop in Des Moines, Iowa and transported to the facility for installation. The prefabricated components allowed Proctor Mechanical Corporation to remove the necessary parts and tie in the new cold water service and soft water service with minimal bypass time and get the booster pumps back on line. The campus never lost water during this tie-in. 

The project included a site water service to two buildings and reconfiguring water lines and adding backflow preventers to four buildings. The existing space in these four buildings was very limited and the new backflow preventers would not fit into the space as shown on the plans. Proctor Mechanical worked with the designers and the owner to reroute piping to a space that would be convenient and not impede the owner’s operations. Two of the buildings required secured access as well as an owner escort. Proctor Mechanical complied with the requirements of the facility and worked with the owner to give as much notice as possible when access was needed. Proctor Mechanical Corporation prefabricated the work for these buildings to minimize the amount of escort necessary. 

Proctor Mechanical Corporation performed 95% of the project with their own workforce and made suggestions to minimize costs and speed up the project. This project had several unusual challenges that Proctor Mechanical Corporation was able to successfully overcome, including keeping continuous water supply to the facility, secured access to some buildings, very tight working conditions and long lead expensive materials. Proctor Mechanical Corporation worked through these challenges by prefabricating, coordinating and collaborating with suppliers to deliver this project on time and under budget.