By now, everyone in the district should have received our flier giving a run down of the current situation and the reason we need everyone to come to the meeting.  6:30 pm at the Athol Community Center, Feb, 19th 2020.

Here is the situation.

In the summer of 2018, for the first time in district history, for several days, we were unable to meet peak water demands and fire flow of 1,000 gal per minute.  It’s important to mention, the board has always encouraged water usage through extremely low water rates.  With people wanting to keep green lawns, watering gardens and animals, water demand has increased during hot summer days.  Even though, we are well below the connections the system was designed to accommodate.  Our system was designed for 460 connections (currently we are around 370 connections).

A LITTLE HISTORY

Back in 2004, the board understood that if our primary well ever went down, we would without water service for as long as it would take to pull the old pump and replace it with a new one, about a week or two.  So the board has since been working towards maintaining an emergency fund of 10% of the value of the system, in case of repairs.

In 2006 the board was approached to provide water to a new development, west of Weir, East of Ramsey, North of Seasons and South of Hwy 54.  The board saw this as an opportunity to get the funding needed to get a second big well put in at about $900k dollars, all out of pocket, provided by the developer.  The developer agreed.  In 2007/2008, the financial collapse happened, the real estate market cooled and money dried up.  The project was on hold.

Since that time, the board authorized splits and developments in and around district boundaries, as long as it did not negatively impact the current users, to build up funds for a new big well.

During this time, the board spent $200k (estimated) on two backup generators that ran off liquid propane.  The board also upgraded control systems for the wells.  In addition to these upgrades, the district also repaired leaks throughout the system to reduce water loss.

Since 2004, the board has been able to set aside $700k dollars in addition to those upgrades in preparation for getting a second big well online.

PRESENT DAY

This past June (2019) when the district was about to approve new development in the same location of the development from 2006, the developer was informed by DEQ that the district was at capacity because the district was not able provide peak demand and fire flow with it’s primary well offline, which DEQ considers to be a health concern and primary reason for needing to add source capacity.  DEQ rejected the development and placed a moratorium on the district.

The district met with DEQ to get specifics of their decision.  The board was informed that since 2007, DEQ had put in place NEW requirements.  The district, under these new requirements, needed to be able to provide peak demand and fire flow with the district’s main water pumps offline.   That means upsizing our current large well and then add a new well to the system.

We have a couple options:

OPTION 1.  Increase the user rates to encourage less water usage and not add a new well.  How this will effect users: when our big well goes down, we will be without irrigation water usage, only domestic use, for a couple weeks while a new pump put into service.  (we currently have a backup pump ready and waiting, should our big pump fail)

This also means, no more water connections in the district.  DEQ will not allow for any additional connections.  That means no more splits of property within district boundaries.

OPTION 2. We meet DEQ’s requirements by upsizing our existing big well and add a new well to the system so we can have our primary well offline and still provide peak demand and fire flow.  User rates will still go up.  Major benefit to all of us; if a well goes down, we will still be able to meet peak demand and fire flow while repairing the pump.  It also means new connections can be added to the system.  In other words, homeowners will be able to split their land with water.

The board has done everything they possibly can to do this out of pocket.  The $700k in the bank, the bulk has come from cap fees in preparation for adding this new well.  Without the added costs of the new requirements of DEQ and the moratorium placed on the district by DEQ, we would have started bringing the new well online this summer without needing any financing.

The meeting on Feb 19th will be to discuss the financing options we have before us on how to meet all of DEQ’s requirements so the moratorium can be lifted.

Hope to see everyone there with a mind of helping all of us make the best decision for us all. (see the attached financing options sheet we will be going over at the meeting.)

Best Regards,

Your Board

Remington Water District

                                                PO Box 468, Athol, Idaho  83801
                                    Phone: (208)683-5054    Fax: (208)728-4333
                                                E-mail: bobkuch@rwdonline.org

On Sunday, December 8th, Remington Water District customers experienced a water service depressurization event. At 3am, what was thought to be a power outage and generators subsequently failing to start at our pump house turned out to our small well pump tripping the service disconnect for the entire pump house while running. This well has been taken offline for further evaluation while our large well pump provides normal water service at this time. Because your health is important to us, we want to explain in greater detail the steps we have taken and will continue to take to protect our water supply during a depressurization event.  We would also like to inform you of the measures you may choose to take to protect your health should during a pressure loss event.

Even well designed and operated water systems such as ours may experience pressure loss (depressurization events) from time to time. When a significant pressure loss occurs there is a potential for back flow or cross connection contamination to occur in the water system’s distribution system, thus initiating an opportunity for contaminants to be drawn into the drinking water supply.

While we have established preventative measures to significantly diminish the potential for contamination it is not possible for any public drinking water system to completely rule out the potential for contamination during a depressurization event. This potential for the introduction of microbial and chemical contaminants into the water system may pose a special health risk for people with weakened immune systems (immuno-compromised persons), children and the elderly.  If such contamination were to occur it may cause symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, cramps, headaches, or other symptoms. 

If you are concerned about the potential for contamination due to a depressurization event, please consume bottled water if you notice a decrease in pressure at your tap.   (Boiling your water may not be an effective method to ensure that you are protected from all potential contamination).

After normal water service was restored, we added extra chlorine to disinfect the water system. A special water sample will be also taken to test for the presence of coliform bacteria as required by the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality. We should have the results back by Tuesday. Please note that some customers may find air bubbles in the water for a few days after this service outage. The air bubbles are harmless. If you have questions or concerns regarding our drinking water, please call or text me at (208)659-4197, or e-mail bobkuch@rwdonline.org.

Sincerely,

Bob Kuch
Water System Operator

(Aug. 16th, 2018)  Last night’s meeting…..it was brought to the boards attention that, for the first time in our district’s history, we are achieving 1,000 gpm (gallons per minute) at our peak demand times.   Fire flow protection, is 1,000 gpm plus normal use.  Essentially, when everyone is watering their properties, at the peak, we are maxed out.   If we had a fire during peak demand times, we would not be able to provide fire flow to fight a fire.  Currently our district engineer, water master and board are looking into ways to address the issue.

The nice thing, this is only a problem during peak demand times.  Generally, peak demand times, are only during hot dry spells when neighbors are trying to keep their lawns green.   Cutting back usage during these times will help average out the usage.  Stay tuned as we investigate how to resolve the problem.

All monthly board meetings are on the 3rd Wed of every month.
They are located at the Athol Community Center, in the eastern room down stairs.
Meetings start a 6:30