Water and Sewer System Report - April 1999
By Mike Wellman, Water/Waste Water Manager

At the request of the local Klickitat County Health District officials, Doug Miller took them on a tour of the PUD water systems this week.

Roosevelt Water and Sewer Systems
Project Office The mobile office was delivered to the site this week receiving minimal damage on the side of the unit. Roosevelt Associates has not yet graded the roads for the proposed project.
Reservoir Construction The County issued the Building Permit, and the Notice to Proceed on the construction of the reservoir has been mailed to Mt. Baker Silo. Doug Miller and Howard Sinor with help from John Moore of the electrical department, excavated the reservoir foundation, installed rock and all the piping in preparation for the concrete reservoir itself.
Regulatory Issues
The State has many items that must be completed prior to construction: These are:

  • Water Plan We have received the response to our draft Water System Plans from the Dept. of Health. The approval from the state is first and foremost before any additional building can be done on the project. They have 5 pages of additional information and requirements listed in their response. The biggest problem is the response by DOE on our Water Right certificate, in which they have stated to DOH that we have not put all of our right to beneficial use, and therefore we cannot have the total amount. DOH has said that we must "address" water right issues prior to Plan approval. Craig Riley has suggested that we hire a water rights attorney. Estimated cost and length of time to solve these issues: Several week to several months and several hundred to several thousand dollars. We have already spent over a thousand dollars in house to do the plan, and DOE has billed us for $564 more.
  • Water Construction Documents After the Water Plan is approved, the construction documents must be sent in for DOH approval. This process may delay final approval another 60 days, if DOH has their standard time, and the cost to review will be several hundred dollars more.
  • Sewer Plan and Construction Documents
  • The DOH also is in charge of reviewing the proposed sewer plan. We have been in contact with them since last year, and have been working on the details for the collection system, recirculating gravel filter, and the drainfield. The consultant we have hired, Steve Wert has done a thorough review of the drainfield area, and has said it will work fine, and would be approvable easily by DEQ in Oregon. The soils are shallow in the drainfield, and Washington State is requiring that we install many more lf of line than what the consultant feels are needed, especially since we are getting no credit for the high quality effluent that the RGF will produce. One option that I have suggested to the State is to just permit us for a smaller number of gallons of flow, and let us instrument the drainfields and show that the performance is there. The understanding would be that when the results are favorable, the State would increase the number of services allowed. My desire is to have the 100 service equivalents approved up front, but we might have to wait until we prove the capacity to actually use it. We will also have to get approval of our funding agencies for this approach. Estimated time to get this plan approved: 60 days.

Ponderosa Park Water System
I met with Dave and Richelle Wilson who live in the upper part of the park and are currently using the White Oak well. They have requested the PUD to either develop the well or rescind our right of first option to purchase which would allow them to purchase it for personal use. They are also to provide information on their hookup fees paid to the developers and a request to use the well.

Lyle Sewer System
We will be recommending the selection of Tom Coleman to assist in the preparation of the Waste Water Treatment Engineering Report for the Lyle Sewer.

Glenwood Water System
A resident in Glenwood believing that her ill health was related to the PUD water and had a personal friend take a water sample from her residence. The sample was apparently unsatisfactory for coliform but not fecal coliform. The resident notified the local health department who went up to the home and resampled along with two other samples from the area. Initial lab results indicated all samples passed, however, a week later the health district lab notified that the samples had in-fact failed for coliform but not fecal coliform. The health department notified the residents where the samples were taken. A private individual typed and posted notices throughout the town advising a boil water alert. This posting began an area-wide concern of residents regarding the water safety.

Standard water sampling by the PUD showed the water to be free of coliform, however, five additional water samples were drawn in all sections of the town, including a raw water sample at the source, McCumber Springs. All samples passed with no presence of coliform. The local DOH and PUD prepared a joint letter to the residents advising of the current situation and water quality. An additional letter from the PUD was also prepared and mailed to all Glenwood water systems customers on April 19, 1999.

We are chlorinating the water on a daily basis at this time. Plans for a chlorination building and soda treatment process are part of the 1999 budget and we anticipate construction to be completed prior to the fall. So far, all the calls from customers indicate unhappiness with chlorine.

Klickitat Water and Sewer Systems
Water System Roger Mortensen, the superintendent for the Klickitat School District, has sent a letter requesting use of one of the PUD wells for irrigation of the ballfield. I advised him in my response letter that until the Klickitat Town Council makes a decision on the proposed new water sources we will be unable to allow the school use of the well.
Sewer System We are waiting for Yakima Pre-Cast to finish building the vaults for the FEMA mitigation project. We are still considering the purchase of a new versus used generator set in the 60 to 100 kw capacity.


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