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HomeMy Public PortalAboutMcCall, Idaho: Public Works - WaterPAGE A-- 3 - -THE STAR - NEWS -- TUESDAY, DECEMBER 31, 1985 Water rate ptan &put(A By Randall Brooks The Star -News Charging that the McCall City Council was once again singling out businesses to support city ser- vices, McCall business operators began lashing out against a plan to hike water and sewer rates as soon as it hit the streets on May 29. The battle continued until Aug. 12, when the council settled on a 28 percent hike for the ma- jority of McCall's utility users. Residential customers saw their rates jump from $16 to $20.50 for water and sewer service, while commercial rates went from $18 to $22.50. McCall's largest commercial users, together with a group of McCall trailer park owners, suc- cessfully fought off an idea by McCall City Administrator Jim Smith to change to an "equivalent user" system and kept the option of having water usage metered, but those rates also jumped significantly under the plan. The standoff over utility rates began in early June, when op- ponents of the rate hike quickly coupled with those involved in a controversy over law enforce- ment policies by McCall police. The two shared television news coverage by Boise stations that had Mayor Clyde Archer and the council in the hot seat for several weeks. On June 5, the McCall Area Chamber of Commerce announc- ed a demand for a 20 percent cut- back in city spending and began what turned out to be a six - month battle over setting water and sewer rates. Businesses such as the Shore Lodge complained that projec- tions of Smith's equivalent -user system showed their rates would rise as much as 2,400 percent, and they claimed their businesses were being singled out unfairly. Solutions to the problem began as the council approved the ap- pointment of a committee con- sisting of Arcner, rainy Kite, John H. Elliot, council members Marion Johnson and Larry Craig, and two members picked by chamber of commerce presi- dent Kay Larson, who were Ron Goodman and Jane Volk. �A REVIEW A PERSPECTIVE ON. 1985 the cenrral Idaho star -news Labeled as the Water and Sewer Rates Study Committee, they took on the task of arbitrating the dispute and offered two plans as alternatives to Smith's un- popular proposal. The controversy quickly spread and intensified as it was learned that the city had not billed some commercial customers for 1'/2 years and failed to bill some com- mercial customers at all. The process of identifying and eliminating the problems con- tinued through the summer as the city's budget process waited in limbo. In one dispute that is yet to be resolved by the city council, Shaver's supermarket questioned the improper billing periods and the accuracy of meter readings listed on the billings. The store, which uses large amounts of water to cool its refrigeration units, has threaten- ed to take the city to court unless a modification is made to their bill of $6.684.94. New City Administrator Bud Schmidt said in a recent interview that he and Shaver's manager Larry Bouck had reached an agreement based upon making modifications to the store's water usage program and the disputed bill. That agreement will have to be ratified by both sides. Meanwhile, Schmidt said an ongoing program to update the city's utility billing system is pro- gressing well and that few future problems in utility rates should occur. State denies water -line grant BY TOM GROTE The Star -News A request by the city of McCall for a state grant to build a water line has been denied, but the city is not out of the running for the funds. Mayor Larry Smith was notified last week by the Idaho Department of Commerce that the city's request for a Community Development Block Grant of $83,600 was turned down by the state. Statewide, a total of $6.8 million in block grants was granted to 27 Idaho communities to fund construc- tion of public facilities, housing and senior citizen centers. The grant would have been used to replace undersized water lines along Stibnite Street in McCall with larger water lines. The larger to McCall lines would allow development to occur along Stibnite Street, includ- ing a 50 -unit low - income resident housing project proposed west of The Woodsman Motel. The city's grant failed because the low- income housing had not pro- gressed far enough, said Kay Frances, administrator of the Division of Community Development. The project, proposed by Steven Pierce of Boise, still needs city planning and zoning approval, and Pierce has not yet received financing from the federal Farmers Home Administration, Frances said. However, Frances said that new federal funds for the block grant program likely will be available this summer, and she urged the city to send in a new application. An appli- cation for block grant funds rarely is turned down on the second try, she said. The McCall Planing and Zoning Commission on Tuesday will hold a public hearing on Pierce's proposal. The hearing is set to start at 7:30 p.m. in the lower level of McCall City Hall. Of the 50 total housing units proposed, a total of 16 would be dedicated to senior citizen housing, according to Pierce's application. The project would be located on 4.5 acres fronting on Colorado Street. Neighbors of the project appeared at a public hearing on the block grant application held last November and objected to the city paying $19,300 to match the state grant. An additional match of $20,000 has been pledged by the owner of the Rustic Village condominiums on Stibnite Street. City officials argued that the es- timated $50,000 in water hook -up fees paid by Pierce for the project would more than make up for the city's share. Middle school, juvenile center water supply subject of Friday meeting MCCALL — A meeting here Friday will explore the options that might be available to supply water to the new McCall - Donnelly Middle School and the Valley County Juvenile Detention Center soon to be under construction along Deinhard Lane east of Shaver's Marketplace. McCall City Council member Bill Killen said Tuesday that the issue is one for which there are no easy answers. When city voters cast ballots to approve the nearly $10 million water improvement project last year, there were no public projects in the Deinhard Lane area that made what is known as the South Loop water line a high priority part of the project. "At the time the voters approved it, there wasn't any critical new construction out there," Killen said. The $10 million bond and the scope of the project that would be paid for by the bond were approved by the prior McCall City Council and city administration,'all of which has changed since then. But Killen said that doesn't mean the prior council, which was swept out of office by a vote by McCall residents to change the form of government, erred in pulling the south loop out of the project. They made their decision based on the information they had avail- able at that time, he said. "They were trying to address existing construction" with the water project that would be covered by the approved bond, he said. The south loop line was removed from the project with the con- currence of the city's water system engineers, Toothman -Orton, as a move to keep the bond amount below $10 million. City officials were reluctant to seek voter approval for a bond above that amount as the common belief was that it was a threshold number of sorts, above which gaining voter approval would be very unlikely. The bond for the water system improvements passe . In the meantime, however, M -D school district patrons, after five previous attempts, finally gave their approval for a bond that would allow con- struction of a new middle school on property the school district has owned on the east end of Deinhard Lane for some time. And also in the interim, Valley County voters approved a bond to build a new jail at Cascade and a new juvenile detention center on county -owned property along Deinhard Lane. Because of the nature of both of those projects — involving youths and their safety and a security question as some in the juvenile detention center will likely be "locked down" — it will be difficult for officials to compromise on water flows. There has been some compromise with other new com- mercial construction that's been allowed along Deinhard to the east of Idaho Highway 55. Killen said the present City Council has been scrutinizing all projects in the city with regard to water flows. "That concern has become kind of a standard issue anytime a proposal comes before us," he said. And water flows, and what's permissable varies by area of town. Some areas have adequate flows, while other areas only a few blocks away, don't, he said. "We're looking at it case by case," Killen said. Even before the school issue came up, he said, part of the Council's drill has been to verify what demands every project makes on the city's water system and infrastructure. "I think the south loop situation brought it into focus with so many things going on at once within a few blocks of each other," he said. "I think everyone recognizes that lacking a wind- fall of big numbers from somewhere, whatever we do is going to be temporary," he said. "The bottom line is that south loop requires a chunk of change." "There's no solution other than to find enough money to fund it," he said of the south loop. And then the challenge will be to get the pipes in and have the water available at about the same time those projects are completed. "It'll get done, but whether it gets done at the same time, I don't know," Killen said. Scheduled to attend Friday's special meeting are representatives of the M -D School District, the Valley County Commissioners, City of McCall officials, and engineering representatives. --r air /i/er w 5 - J / Y -:I- /, 19 1� ti School., juvenile center lack water BY TOM ki " The Star -News Payette Lakes Middle School and the new Valley County Juvenile De- tention Center in McCall will not have enough water for fire protec- tion if they open in the fall of 1995 as scheduled, the McCall City Council was told last week. Council members were told by its engineers last Thursday that the middle school and detention center are planned for an area along Dein- hard Lane where water pipes are too small for fire protection. Fire codes require commercial buildings to have water flows avail- able of at least 1,500 gallons per minute in order to put out a major fire. $3.3 million bond issue for new jails, including the McCall juvenile deten- tion center. "The development pressures are much more than when the water bond passed," Orton said. The cost of the new water line is about $400,000, and much of that cost is scheduled to be paid by private developers, including the builders of Spring Mountain Ranch and The Woodlands, Orton said. The school district also will be building a section But under the best of circum- stances, the eight -inch water lines now along Deinhard Lane can pro- vide no more than 950 gallons per minute, said Rick Orton of Toothman -Orton Engineering of Boise. Excavation for the 55,000 square - foot Payette Lakes Middle School has begun on a site near Deinhard Lane and Samson Trail. Meanwhile, ground - breaking is planned this fall on the juvenile detention center at the current site of the county's recy- cling center. The city's master water plan calls for 12 -inch lines to be built along Deinhard Lane and connecting into the city's planned water treatment of the line as part of the new school. But adequate watei supply,yvill not be available until the water- treatment plant is completed, and that is not likely until the summer of 1996 at the earliest, he said. The situation means the school and detention center could be without ad- equate supply for a year or more. The facilities may not be able to open unless a wavier of fire codes is ob- tained or a temporary water supply is found, Orton said. Peter O'Neill, developer of Spring Mountain Ranch, told council mem- bers they should be working now to come up with an interim plan. O'Neill said creative ideas were needed, and he suggested filling up a gravel pit along Deinhard Lane with water for use as a reservoir in case of a fire. Council members assigned its staff members to explore solutions, includ- ing seeking grants to accelerate build- ing the new water lines and investi- gating whether a waiver of fire codes could be obtained from the State Fire Marshal's Office. plant inside the Spring Mountain Ranch development, Orton said. City voters in August 1993 passed a $9.9 million bond issue to build the treatment plant as well as re- place many undersized water lines in the city. But the section of 12 -inch line that runs by the school and jail sites was taken out of the bond issue by the city council in order to keep the total below $10 million, Orton said. Since the water bond was passed, voters in the McCall - Donnelly School District approved a $6.1 mil- lion bond issue last December that included the middle school. In May, Valley County voters approved a McCall Clubhouse — ®JUVENILE DETENTION CENTER SITE Graphic by Tomi Grote Deinhard Lane Color shows proposed water lines. / /c°W 5 - % %J;,,v 97 McCall doubles fees for water hook-ups BY JEANNE SEOL Construction on the water treat - The Suv -News ment plant and new water lines con - The price of hooking up to the City tinues, while 75 percent of water of McCall's water system will nearly double on March 1 as the city struggles to pay for its improved, $11.2 million water treatment system. McCall City Council members last Thursday approved a hike in the city's water system "buy -in" fee, the one- time fee new homeowners, condo- minium and business owners pay for a dwelling or building to be con- nected to the city's water system. The flat fee was set at $3,750 per connection, plus an estimated $650 paid to the city for labor and installa- tion costs. The fee was increased from a previous charge of $2,250 per con- nection. Condominium developments must pay a separate $3,750 fee for each unit, while multifamily housing projects will be charged by the num- ber of kitchens included in a project. Charges for hotels and motels will be individually assessed by the city coun- cil. The fee increase stems from a dra- matic increase in the value of the city's water treatment system, City Clerk Jim Henderson said. The city's "buy -in" fee is calcu- lated by dividing the value of the city's water system by the number of users. Because the value of the sys- tem increased, connection fees also had to be raised, Henderson said. "In the last two to three years, we've pumped between $8 million and $9 million into the system," Henderson said. "The old fee was not covering our costs." In 1993, city voters passed a $9.9 million bond to help pay forcity water improvements. The bond was ex- pected to pay for a new water treat- ment plant, larger water lines and individual water meters in homes and businesses. meters have been installed, Henderson said. Those meters have changed the way the city charges for its monthly water use for businesses. Commercial monthly fees are now set at a flat rate of $24 per month, plus 60 cents per gallon over 3,000 gallons. Residen- tial rates are set at a flat fee of $22 per month for unlimited water. As "buy -in" fees are increased, monthly water rates will also increase "substantially" in order to pay for the new system, though no hike in the city's monthly rate has yet been fig- ured, Henderson said. "The news is not good, but it shouldn't be too much of a surprise," Henderson said. If McCall did not charge hookup fees or receive revenue from interest on reserve funds, city water monthly rates could be as high as $55 per month, Henderson said. McCall is not the only city in Idaho facing increased water hookup fees and higher monthly rates. In Hailey, residential monthly rates have increased by $4 since 1993. Homeowners there currently pay $16 per month for city water. Hookup or "buy -in" fees in Hailey have also in- creased by $350 since 1993, with rates currently set at $2,184 per connec- tion. In Cascade, residential monthly waterrates have increased from $14.40 in 1993 to $25 in 1997. Commercial monthly rates are currently set at $39.25 per month. Cascade's one- time hookup or "buy -in" fee is $600. The City of Cascade is currently in the process of putting in new wells and the city's water users will begin a new, metered system and rate plan this summer, City Clerk Marlene Kennedy said. Rate increase steams McCall water users "People have no idea of how much water they really use. Now they do. " — McCall City Clerk Jim Henderson BY JEANNE SEOL The Star -News Officials at McCall City Hall were besieged by more than 100 calls and complaints this week after city resi- dents opened their June water bills. The water bills, sent out last Tues- day, marked the first time residents were charged according to how much water they used, instead of paying a flat rate. of $22. Alana Shoemaker of McCall saw her bill triple to $65, and she's not happy about it. "June was a wet month. I only watered my lawn once. I don't even want to know what July's bill is going to be," Shoemaker said. Other residents saw their bills in- crease, even those who knew that meters were going to turn on and started conserving water in May. Joan Norrdin of McCall said that after living for 15 years in California, she is used to using as little water as possible. "We brush our teeth with one glass of water," Norrdin said. Even so, she used 10,000 gallons of water in June and saw her bill increase to $35. "I don't understand how we could have used 10,000 gal- lons," Norrdin said. Residential bills are now based on meters that measure how much water a home uses. Residents pay a flat fee of $20, plus $3 per every 1,000 gal- lons of water used over 5,000 gallons. Commercial users pay $29 per month plus $3 per every 1,000 gallons used after 8,000 gallons. City Hall Utility Clerk Linda Har- ris, who handled most of the waterbill objections last week, said complaints are still coming in. Most residents are not upset about the new rates - they just can't believe they are using so much water, she said. City Clerk Jim Henderson has sat down with many residents and showed them the average amount of water used in a home is about 12,000 gal- lons a month. Henderson said people "have no idea of how much water they really use." "They don't have any concept of what watering the lawn three times a week does," Henderson said at last Thursday's city council meeting. "Now they do." City council members said at last week's meeting that they, too, have been plagued with complaints from their friends and neighbors. The city council approved the new rates in May to pay for the city's new water system and water treatment plant. Under the old rates, the city would not have been able to pay back $9.9 million worth of bonds passed by city voters in 1993 to improve the city's water system. Mayor Bill Killen said at last week's meeting that the new rates have changed him into a water con- server. "There's a five - minute limit on showers at my house now," he said. But limiting showers to just a few minutes is not going to solve Shoemaker's problems, she said, be- cause she has thousands of dollars worth of landscaping surrounding her house that she must water. "I just can't let all of those plants die," she said. Instead of charging residents by the gallon to water their lawn, Shoe- maker would like to see a separate irrigation charge levied on residents every month. "Otherwise this town is going to turn ugly," she said. "People are go- ing to let their lawns die because they can't afford to pay their water bill." But using water metering is the only fair way to bill water users, Henderson said, because the people who use the most water should pay most of the bill. Henderson has ordered pamphlets from the American Waterworks As- sociation that show residents how to conserve water. He said that informa- tion should be available at McCall City Hall within the next two weeks. Idaho Rural Water Association to help out with McCall water problems MCCALL — Staff members of the non -profit Idaho Rural Water Association are expected to begin work next week trying to resolve some of the problems that have surfaced with the City of McCall's water system and water rate structure. Don Munkers, director of the IRWA, told a group of 130 concerned citizens here Monday evening that his organization, which is not a government agency, will do a water rate analysis for the City of McCall in an attempt to find out why rates are so high. "I think we can help you out and solve the prob- lem," Munkers said. That search for answers and solutions to what many citizens believe is a case of government gouging them to pay for a water system that is incomplete may not take long, he said. His staff is now waiting for a certi- fied test meter that can be used to test the electrical water meters now installed around town. That testing, which Munkers said can be done at a rate of 5 meters per day, should begin next week. Many residents, some of whose water bills have been well into three figures, upwards of $500 in some cases, believe a lot of the problem lies in the water meters, which are read remotely by a city employee who drives by in a pickup truck and reads the meter using his computer. But others who spoke at the meeting focused on why the city is charging so much for water under the guise of encouraging conservation of water. One speaker said there's a contradiction there. City Council members set the rates high to bring in enough money to cover the costs of the $9.9 million in water bonds sold for the treatment plant and associated water lines. But if everyone conserves, the amount of money generated by the sale of water won't be enough to cover the cost of the bond. Others questioned why the city is charging for water that most have difficulty drinking straight from the tap, whether it's safe without the filtration systems origi- nally called for, but cut out of the project when bids exceed engineers' estimates by $2 million. Munkers assured those at the meeting that McCall residents are not the only ones suffering financial and other problems because of the mandates of the Safe Drinking Water Act. McCall Mayor Bill Killen said Tuesday that from what he understands, Congress is going to review some of the conditions of the act, in light of what's happen- ing across the country. That may lead to some financial relief, he said. Others at the meeting discussed the city's budget and an independent audit that the Citizens for Fiscally Responsible Government wants done Drop of Payette Lake water takes long journey 138 billion drops of water taken each day c (Note: This is the first in a series of stories following ka drop of water through the city of McCall's water and sewer systems.) BY MICHAEL WELLS The Star -News Following a drop of Payette Lake water through the k city of McCall's water and sewer systems reveals that "',,something as simple as pouring a glass of tap water is a `complicated process. The city's water treatment plant 9 treats an average of about 1 million gallons of lake water per day, said Mc- Call Water /SewerPlantSuperintendent John Lewinski. During the year the plant will treat a little more than 365 million gallons of water, Lewinski said. 4 In the summer months, the plant has : �' treated as much as 2.8 million gallons of 'r water. During April, the plant will treat about 580,000 gallons of water per day, Lewinski said. Based on38,000 drops of water in a gallon, anestaimted38 billion drops of water leave Payette Lake each day to be used by city water customers. During the busy tourist season, as many as 106.4 billion drops of water are used daily. A drop of water can travel from Payette Lake through more than 35 miles of water pipe within McCall's water system before it enters into McCall's more than 30 miles of sewer pipe that lead to the city's wastewater treatment plant on West Deinhard Lane, McCall Water and Sewer McCall Water /Sewer Plant Superintendent John Superintendent Levi Brinkley said. Lewinski checks a pump that sends water to a torage tank on the city's east side. Drop Pipes Meet at the Golf Course (Continued from Page 1) The time it takes for a single drop of water to make this journey depends on the time of year. The journey is much faster during the sum- mer months when the town's vacation homes, hotels and condominiums are filled with seasonal visitors. Typically, McCall water customers are drinking water that left Payette Lake, the day before it comes out of taps. In the busy summer months, generally the water coming out of, customer's faucets; shower heads and sprinklers left the lake that day, Lewinski said. Water enters the McCall system at two locations lo- cated off Davis Beach and Legacy Parkin the southeast - ern corner of the western arm of Payette Lake. The main water intake pipe for the McCall water system is located off Legacy Park about 200 feet from the. shore in about 50 feet of wa- ter. It was built in the 1940s. The 21 -inch intake pipe takes in water that floods a 15,000 gallon vault where three turbine pumps, two 50 hp and one 75 hp pumps push water through a 16 -inch pipe up Pine Street to Wooley Street. The pipe then turns at Davis Avenue to Divot Lane, crosses under the McCall Municipal Golf Course to the weather station located off the No. 9 Birch, where it meets up with the Davis Beach pipe in a three valve cluster. The Davis Beach intake, which was built in the 1950s, has 16 -inch and 12 -inch in- take pipes at depths of about 40 feet in Payette Lake about 200 feet off the shore. Davis Beach is used pri- marily during the busier summer months of July and August. At both beach intake locations, Lewinski can chlorinate the water to save use of two anthracite filters at the city's water treatment plant on Bitteroot Drive. As the water comes into the Legacy or Davis Beach intakes, Lewinski will add one drop of chlorine per 26.3 gallons of water or one drop of chlorine per 999,400 drops of Payette Lake water. The water then travels through the pipes where it eventually comes together under the No. 9 fairway on the Birch course, From there the water goes to the treat- ment plant. (Next Week: Through the water treatment plant.) West side water hookups limited Only 107 new hook -ups allowed unless improvements made BY MICHAEL WELLS The Sian -News McCall's water system will only allow for 107 additional water hookups west of the North Fork of the Payette River until improvements to the system can be made. City officials do not believe the limited capacity of the water system will lead to a building moratorium because there is little activity duringthe current economic slowdown. The city has 980 water hookups it can provide with its current system, but only 107 of those west of the river, McCall Public. Works Director Peter Borner said. The limitation only applies to new sub- Hookups (Continued from Page 1) Installing a booster sta- tion on De inhard Lane would increase west side capacity to 1,218 new hookups, Borner said. A 700,000 gallon water storage tank on the west side of town would increase west side water hookups to 2,900from today's remaining capacity of 844, city docu- ments said. If the city were to upgrade its water treatment plant to 1.5 million gallons per day capacity, hookup capacity would increase to 2,427, city documents said. Filter capacity at the water treatment plant and, backup power at the city's Davis Beach intake location are needed upgrades to the system. The city has 438 available connections until the Davis divisions. The city has already factored in previously platted subdivisions to include undeveloped, lots in Whitetail, River's Crossing and other subdivisions on the west side of the river. The limitations are due to the city's water system falling out of compliance with Idaho Department of Environmental Quality administrative rules. Certain upgrades to the water system would increase the system's capacity and the number of hookups the city could al- low in the future. An upgrade to the Knowles Road boost- er station would increase capacity on the west side of the city to 524 hookups. See HOOKUPS, Page 2 Beach backup generator must be in place, said Jen- nifer Beddoes of the city's contract engineering firm CH2M Hill. The water system limita- tions are now governed by a similar system that governs the amount of wastewater hookups the city can al- low due to capacity in the city's wastewater treatment plant. Those limitations led to a building moratorium in 2005 -06 during the area's construction boom. There are no plans to build any of the improve- ments in the city's proposed budget for next year. The city is currently evaluating the projects to make sure they have them in the right order. There are no cost esti- mates for the projects, which would be financed from the city's self - supporting water fund. S /glu I I -"toIruilt plash toidKes rayeiie LaKe Water ready to drink IJthe city does not add soda ash to the lake water, it would corrode galvanized water pipes that are still in use in many homes and businesses (Note: This Is the second in a series of stories following a drop of water through the city of McCall's water and sewer systems.) By MICHAEL WELLS The Star -News McCall's water treatment plant on Bitteroot Drive on the east side of town treats an average of 38 billion drops or 1 r1illion gallons of water each day. This time of year, however, the plant can treat as much as 2.8 million gallons of Payette Lake water per day. The lake water enters the plant from a single pipe that can take water from bath the Legacy and Davis Beach intake lines that meet under the McCall Golf Course. In the summer months, the water has already been chlorinated before it reaches the water plant. The water is pumped from the lake intakes with 80 pounds per square inch of pressure from pumps operating in 15,000-gallon vaults at both Legacy and Davis beaches. By the time it reaches the water treatment plant, the pressure has been reduced to about 45 or 50 psi due to the distance and topography the water travels to the plant, McCall Water Sewer Superintendent Levi Brinkley said. i Sta 14e photo by tdimad wells McCall lCater- Sewer Plant Superintendent John Ietrmski checks a tah a that regulates the flow of l au tirater urin the citv's crater treatment plant ou Bitten -mrit Drive At the treatment pant, city water crews add soda ash to the water because Payette Lake water has a low ,alkalinity and low ph level due to the area's granite bedrock, McCall Water /Sewer Plant Sup,irintendent John Lewinski said. If the city does not add soda ash to the lake water, it would corrode galvanized water pipes that are still in use in many homes and businesses throughout town, Lewinski said. Soda Ash Added Eight milligrams per liter of soda ash is added to the water at the plant to prevent corrosion. The goal is to change the ph level of the water to a range between 7.2 and 8 ph when it leaves the plant for use by customers. Lewinski then adds two coagulants to comply with the state's drinking water act. The coagulants help remove viruses and bacteria when the water goes through a filter. The city does not add fluoride to the water, Lewinksi said. The city stopped adding fluoride to the water when the current treatment plant was built due to a group of concerned citizens who lobbied city council for its removal due to health concerns, he said. He also adds a polymer called diallyl dinethy ammonium chloride polymer and aluminum chlorohydrate. The polymer combines with viruses and bacteria that are in the lake water. Lewinksi adds this at a rate of two parts per million to the water. He then adds four parts per million of the hyper ion aluminum chlorohydrate to the water in a flash mixer_ It tOO mixPC wifh tho wnfor nn 4 ­11­#o to ....a: t :.., at.._ ..._.__ Water Filters The city's water treatment plant is a direct filtration plant. Once the coagulants are added to the water the water then goes through two ground anthracite filters that are about eight feet deep, Lewinski said. In eight years of operation, the filters have lost three to four inches, he said. Payette Lake water has a very low turbidity rate or amount of particles in the water. The lake water's turbidity rate is about 600 times less than water used in Midwest water treatment plants, Lewinski said. The filters collect the wruses, bacteria and dirt. During the summer months, water plant crews backwash the filter every day. In slower seasons the filter is backwashed every other day, Lewinski said. Next, the water is chlorinated at a rate of about 1.91 parts per million, or 1.91 gallons of chlorine per every one million gallons of water. On an average day, the plant uses 1.91 gallons of chlorine. in the summer months, the plant can use as much as 5.3 gallons cf chlorine to treat as much as 2.8 million gallons of water. Chlorine is used to kill :)ff waterborne diseases such as cholera and a -coli bacteria, Lewinski said. The chlorinated water leaving the plant has about 1.91 parts per million of chlorine in it. The effects of chlorine diminish as the water travels through the city's water pipes and Lewinski needs to have enough chlorine killing off germs for water users on dead -end pipes far away from the plant. From the plant, the chlorinated water now goes to a 750,000 gallon underwater storage tank located in front of the water treatment plant on Bitteroot Drive. From here the water w II be pumped at 85 to 90 psi inch pressure to the city's 1 million gallon east side underground storage tank or to the city's water pipes. Water that goes into the city's water pipes is also sent to the city's 400,000 underground storage tank on the west side of the c ty. The water is pumped to the storage tanks or water pipes by variable frequency drive pumps. If the pumps cannot keep up the pressure leaving the water plant, then a fixed drive pump is activated to maintain pressure in the lines, Lewinski said. In slower months, sucl- as April, about two - thirds of the treated water goes directly into the city's water main lines. The other one -third of water is cycled to the storage tanks. Lewinski freshens the storage tank water by moving about 180,000 gallons of water through them every 60 to 90 minutes. ie1. A 1AJ- 1.• rA- ;__—, fn hnmcc onrl hjicirnaccac I T: "cCail water travels quickly to homes, businesses It lakes less than a second before drinkable water becomes sewage (Note: This is the third in a series of stories following a drop of water through the city of McCall's water and sewer systems.) 6Y MICHAEL WELLS The Star -News A drop of water leaving the McCall water treatment plant on Bitteroot Street could first go to a storage tank on the east side of town or into water mains bound for homes and businesses in town. The water in the storage tanks only stays in the tank for 60 to 90 minutes, McCall Water /Sewer Plant Superintendent John Lewinski said. The water in the city's water main pipes leaves the plant at about 88 pounds per inch of pressure, but the pressure increases in the pipes as the water travels downhill, McCall Water /Sewer Superintendent Levi Brinkley said. The pressure increases in the pipes to about 101 to 105 psi. The pressure has to be reduced by either sending the water through costly pressure reducing valves or through a cheaper bypass that achieves the same result of reducing the pressure of the water in the line, Brinkley said. About 90 percent of McCall's water goes through the cheaper bypass lines rather than the pressure reducing valves, he said. The pressure reducing valves cost about $9,000, while the bypass line cost snout $600 to replace, Brinkley said. The city has 39 valves in its water pipes to reduce pressure. Adjacent to all of these valves are 2 -inch o' 3 -inch bypass lines, Brinkley said. The valves and bypass lines reduce the pressure to about 43 to 45 Pit Our drop of water that left Payette Lake is now traveling through the city's more than 35 miles of pipe. Three Pipes Across River These pipes are typically 12 inch, 10 -inch or 8 -inch in diameter. Residents west of the North Fork of the Payette River get their water from one of three pipes crossing the river. The line that feeds the 400,000 - gallon west side storage tank crosses the river near Shore Lodge. One line feeds the storage tank, while another line delivers water to homes and businesses in the area, Brinkley said. There are places where the water pressure needs to be increased because the water has to travel uphill or is far enough removed from the plant that the pressure is too low. The water is sent to a booster station, such as the Knowles Road booster station, which is located in the Whitetail Subdivision. Centrifugal force powers the booster station instead of turbine pumps, Brinkley said. Water floods into the booster station and is pushed out at 88 psi. The booster station uses three small motors to push water back into pipes at a higher pressure. A 5 horsepower, 7.5 hp and 30 hp motor are ready to handle variable demands for water. the 5 hp motor can deliver up to 160 gallons of water per minute, the 7.5 hp motor can deliver up to 3C0 gallons per minute, and the 30 hp motor is only used for periods of high demands for water, he said. - -he motors have variable drives that speed up or slow down to maintain water pressure leaving the booster station at about 88 psi, Brinkley said. The station also uses check valves to isolate the water on the west side of the river, Brinkley said. Potable to Wastewater he drop of water has traveled through the city's water lines, but now it leaves the city's system for a brief sf%y i- n home or business. Tne water leaves the city's water main line and goes through a meter setter and then through a water meter. V� hen the water leaves the meter, it is now the responsibility of the property owner, Brinkley said. Residential and business water service lines are generally 3/4 inch to 2 inches. The water may sit in a water heater where it is heated or it may wait in the lines for a valve to open. The drop of water this series is following drips out of a leaky faucet spending less than a second as potable water. it hits the bottom of the sink and finds its way into the drain. 0 it drop of water is now considered wastewater. (A'ext Week: The journey through sewer pipes to the treatment plant.) Back Tolndex