Sewer:
A new vent pipe has been placed at the pump station at lot 77. This should help with the smell. Remember, the septic system is a vented system and as each pump station cycles, there will be some odor emitted temporarily. The engineer has completed final elevations and we should receive materials lists next.
Water:
Thanks to Henry for all the hard work on the water. To Joe and Mike for their assistance as well. Henry’s expertise and experience with these issues as well as equipment provisions have been invaluable. Â
They have identified 2 primary dig sites to look for leaks and 1 secondary smaller site. There are also several small items one of the committee members will get with several homeowners about. Â
Please be sure if you have irrigation it is looked at as the season begins for any potential leaks.
As we move into the next phase of the water project, we may have periods of time where the water is cut off. Hopefully, these will be minimal, and again, we appreciate the work that has been done to date (mostly late at night) not affecting service. We will keep you posted when these are imminent. Â
There have been many areas ruled out which gets us closer to answers. One is the corner at lot 1. This has always been a wet area identified as a wet weather well. We have re-tested and observed, since many have asked. The area is wet after rain and then dries up. The water has tested negative for chlorine on multiple occasions. We have a few areas with some positive readings, and we will look at those first.
We have a had a rough spell with the water department starting last year with several bad water readings and estimated billings. When we asked for clarification, we did not get verbal or email answers but the meter was replaced without notice to the community. We are sorry for the inconvenience and wish we had known to pass along the information. Â
One issue that arose was a lack of parts, so the 6 inch line was replaced with a 4 inch. We have approached the water department about a remedy. To date they insist the meter is pressured for fire protection, but state/insurance documentation indicate otherwise. Local water/fire officials also disagree. Â
Another was high readings after the meter change. We asked for investigation. We then had readings in the wrong unit of measure that we were given a credit for, then the credit was rescinded. It has been a very frustrating process. Â
We have some conflicting information. This may be due to leadership turnover at the water department. One of our owners got valuable information that the department would be open to us adding meters to every home. This was previously declined as a possibility, on multiple occasions, to us and individual owners. Although expensive, it is a viable alternative that we would like to at least look into. We recently had flow meters quoted that would do the same thing but cheaper through the department and would place usage billings on the user. This would be an expensive project with a lot of line work. However, we could put in additional cut-offs at the same time, helping with future problem identification and repair work.
We continue to have billings that are too high. We do not have visible pooling or water running on the ground. We don’t hear water with detection equipment. The cycle counters don’t show that volume of water through the sewer, ruling out housing issues. We do have some isolated areas where the flow decreases when valved off – that’s where we will focus now.
We appreciate your patience. It has been difficult to provide updates as the situation with the water department has played out and our lack of confidence in the readings has made it difficult to dedicate resources to problems that may or may not exist.
We ask that you not contact the water department at this time until some of these issues are resolved. Several have asked to do this, with good intentions; however, we ask that at this time you refrain. In the meantime, we will continue to investigate water loss. Â
Thank you. And as always, if you have questions, please direct them to any committee member.