Water Woes Impact Municipal Supplies
Doug La Rocque
During the past week, the Water District Superintendents in both Berlin and Petersburgh have issued boil water advisories, although Berlin’s has since been rescinded. The reasons for the advisories differ although the inconvenience is the same.
In Petersburgh, the Town has posted a letter to its website that explains the root cause is a lack of water in the water tower, which town officials believe is a combination of the recent drought impacting Rensselaer county and possible leaks in the distribution system.
Town Supervisor Dennis Smith tells The Eastwick Press “there is no indication of contamination in the water but with the level being so low, we decided to post the boil water advisory for consumption purposes simply to be on the safe side.” The water levels in the tank have been low for some time, but the most recent drop is, according to Supervisor Smith, “worrisome.” He says water from the taps is safe to use for bathing purposes, but urges no outside use such as watering lawns or washing vehicles.
Water Is Available At The Town Hall
New York State has provided a water tanker for residents of the Petersburgh Water District, which according to Mr. Smith, was hauled there by the County Highway Department, filled with water donated to the town by the City of Troy. The tanker is located in the town hall parking lot, near the Petersburgh Public Library and will be refilled as needed.
No Immediate End In Sight
Supervisor Smith makes it very clear, even the heavy rains from the remnants of Tropical Storm Isaias won’t be enough to refill the water tower quickly, as the wells are several hundred feet deep, and it takes a while for ground water to penetrate to that depth. Also, the lower than usual snow totals this past late winter and spring didn’t help.
There is another contributing factor, leaks. Water District Superintendent Len Clapp has been working with NYS Rural Water to find any major leaks in the system, using some leak detecting equipment on loan from the Town of Berlin. Some residential leaks have been located, but those alone are not large enough to drawn down the system. Mr. Smith says Rural Water is bringing in some more sophisticated equipment in hopes of identifying a larger leak. Once located, it would have to be dug up and repaired. He says the town will utilize as much of its own resources as possible, to limit the cost to the water district, which already has precious few pennies to spare. The Eastwick Press will post on its Facebook page once notified the boil water notice has been lifted.
Oh Those Mischievous Mice
Berlin Water District 2 Superintendent Ben Krahforst tells The Eastwick Press he walked into the pump house last Wednesday morning, July 29, only to find there was no power. Upon inspection of the breaker box, he found mice had built a nest and made themselves at home. That caused the main breaker to trip. With no power, the pumps were not working. In Berlin, this means not only a supply problem, but a contamination scenario as well.
Berlin’s water system is nearly a century old and at one time was supplied by a reservoir above the village area to the west. The wells that were later drilled replaced that reservoir as the supply source. In fact, these wells put out so much volume, the excess is pumped back to the reservoir, using the lines that once supplied the drinking water. Two years ago, the NYS Department of Health declared the water in the reservoir to be unsafe to drink, attending a town board meeting to warn the board, they feared water from the reservoir could once again leak into the distribution system, contaminating that water, and threatened to issue a boil water order if something wasn’t done about it. That something is the water tower project currently underway.
With no water being pumped to the reservoir, the level fell 41 inches according to Mr. Krahforst, having apparently flowed downhill into the distribution system and potentially tainting the district’s drinking water. Thusly, the boil water order was issued. With the electrical repairs made and the pumps back in action, the reservoir is once again overflowing, and the drinking water tests clean. Late Friday, the boil water was lifted.
Once completed, the new water tower will hold the excess H2O, and all connections to the reservoir will be severed.