Monday, August 26, 2013

Public Water Board Minutes 7/21/2013

On 7/21/13, Southlake Park Services held a public meeting at the well. All shareholders were invited to attend. The meeting began approximately 7:10pm and lasted about one hour.

Board Members Present: John Hattan, Jim Giffin, Christine O'Hara, Peggy O'Brien, Arthur Mitchell

Residents Present: O'Hara, Hattan, Giffin, Butler, Temple, Kelley, Ziegler, Dominey, Wells

Christine presented a quick overview of the previous year. Compared to last year, 2012-2013 has been fairly uneventful. There were a couple of minor leaks and mechanical failures, but nothing as significant as last year. The new pump and well have been working reliably. Monthly as well as quarterly water tests have all been turned in on-time and are being posted publicly to the SLPS blog.

Tim Temple and Jim Giffin expressed concern about installation of meters. Thus-far, eleven meters have been installed, and five additional meters are waiting to be installed. Meters cost about $185 with installations running $100-$200. The meters are being installed because TCEQ stated that they are required, and we were cited (but not fined) for not making efforts at metering houses. The current thinking is that we can avoid a fine if we can show that we are making a continued effort towards getting meters installed on all the houses. Jim and Tim feel this is not an appropriate response, as TCEQ's recommendation does not fit with their published rules regarding flat-fee wells. The consensus of the board was that we will reassess the metering situation if we can get something in writing from TCEQ stating that meters are not necessary for SLPS's flat-fee structure.

Water usage this summer has been lower than this time last year, thanks to a wetter and cooler July than in 2012. The new well has been able to keep up with demand, but the secondary pumps are running 24/7. We will not be changing the current conservation steps, as this situation could and likely will change as we move into August and September.

In November-December, we will be scheduling a tank-cleaning that will likely put us on municipal water for 10 days while it is being done.

Some residents expressed concern over the current price increase of SLPS water. Peggy O'Brien detailed some of the expenses by SLPS compared to its income. Some of the expenses, specifically the new well-loan and payment of past fines, will be retired over time. Tim Temple expressed concern that past fines were being paid with current income and not by the board members responsible for the fines.

SLPS currently serves five vacant houses, four of which have the water shut off. There was some concern about loss of income for those houses should the number of vacant houses increase.

Angie and David Butler expressed concern about water usage and how some of the newer and/or upgraded properties are using water disproportionately despite all members paying a flat fee for water. There was discussion of houses and irrigation and quality of lawns, but no actions or votes were taken.

Christine proposed that residents become more active with the well, as every resident is a part owner of the well. Specifically she asked for more residents to help take action when there is a leak.


Tim Temple and Robert Ziegler expressed a desire to join the SLPS board.

Thursday, June 20, 2013

Low flow faucet rebate!

A little money back while conserving water for members of Tri-County Electric.

Install low flow faucet aerators on all the faucets in your bathrooms and kitchen.  The flow rate for the bathroom must not exceed 1.5 gallons per minute and the kitchen can not exceed 2.2 gallons per minute.

Tri-County Electric will reimburse you with a rebate of $5.00 per aerator installed.  Print the form, attach a copy of your purchase receipt, and return the form to the office listed at the top of the form.  A check will be mailed to you.

FYI, your toilet is using 25% of your monthly water consumption.  Consider upgrading.  There are now models with 2 flush options, soft flush and hard flush, depending on what you need in the moment.


CCR & public meeting

CCR, drinking water Consumer Confidence Report for 2011.

CCR, drinking water Consumer Confidence Report for 2012.

Everyone is welcome to come to a public meeting at the well, 3400 Southlake Park Rd, July 21, 2013, 7:00 pm.  Please bring your own chair; no pets please.

Wednesday, June 5, 2013

May Cleanup and Drought

During  May the pressure tank was given a light pressure wash. 

A new air compressor was installed.  The pressure tank uses an air compressor to keep the system from water logging, which would cause the aux pumps to overwork themselves.  The motor burned out.

A minor issue came up with the chlorine line in the chemical storage unit needing to be adjusted to keep it closer to bottom  of the tank.   The chlorine pump was overhauled earlier this year.

On May 28th a letter was sent to everyone for voluntary water restrictions.  TCEQ  has been updated to the status.

Sunday, March 17, 2013

Friday, March 15, 2013

Pressure Tank Line Repairs

The pressure tank line in the well house developed a pinhole leak. While not overly difficult to do, the repair was a pain in the rear as the pipe had to be chipped out of concrete while working in a confined space. Care had to taken to not damage the nearby pipes.

This pipe was installed many years ago and used galvanized pipe in a ground contact situation. The galvanized corroded, weakened, allowing a pinhole leak to develop.

A large section was removed, updating the materials. Peggy came out to assist and was a big help.

Chlorine Pump Refit

Two weeks ago the chlorine pump was pulled for an annual check and a minor refit was done. Stenner pumps are very user friendly to work on. A new roller assembly, inner tubing, and check valve were installed.