|
10
<br /> gallons a day where the annual average was a little over 8 million gallons a day, almost twice the annual
<br /> average. So this is something that is of particular interest to us because of course the water plant has to be
<br /> sized to meet that peak day demand. The water treatment plant has a current capacity of 15 million gallons a
<br /> day. Within one week, it will be 20 million gallons a day with the completion of two new filters and other
<br /> improvements that are planned. So, by the end of the month, our capacity will be up to 20 million gallons a
<br /> day. And you can see that's none too soon because the projected peak day demand, we are at that capacity
<br /> now. So with that improvement, the capacity of the water plant,again with the assumptions that we're
<br /> serving only within our service area, should be good for another 15 years.
<br /> A couple of words about conservation and demand management. We have implemented a new
<br /> rate structure. We went from a uniform rate, every thousand gallons they're charged with the same, to a rate
<br /> where from May through September each year, the commodity charge for water has increased a lot. And
<br /> then from October through the following April, the commodity charge goes down a lot. Seventy percent of our
<br /> residential customers under this rate structure, adding up 12 months of bills, will be little change. But for the
<br /> smaller percentage of the customers that use a lot more water in the summer than they do in the winter, they
<br /> are going to see a higher bill. And that's sending a price signal to those customers to conserve, hopefully.
<br /> The Towns of Carrboro and Chapel Hill have implemented and OWASA has sent to Orange County for their
<br /> approval a new Conservation Demand Management Ordinance. A law that doesn't have the authority to
<br /> require conservation, you have to get that authority through the towns. And we have approved now, in
<br /> March, for the two towns, a new ordinance. There are three triggers in the ordinance. If the total system's
<br /> supply gets to 125 days, we go to mandatory conservation. If the supply system gets down to 75 days of
<br /> storage, we go to a single day a week irrigation. And then below that, we're in a real emergency, and it would
<br /> be essential use only. We are going to pick up the pace with respect to our public information education
<br /> program to encourage and promote conservation.
<br /> On the water distribution side, the keys here are renewing and replacing the basic infrastructure.
<br /> And the last part about what's our biggest challenge, there are many, but keeping up with the capital
<br /> improvements that are needed is just going to be key. One of the things that we're doing now is, with a
<br /> consultant, we're developing a model looking at our water pipes. There are a lot of things that can affect how
<br /> long a water pipe will last in your system—how old is it, the soils, what is it made of, etc. We're developing a
<br /> model that will help guide and predict our replacement program for water lines in the future. And I think this is
<br /> good information that we look forward to sharing with our utility neighbors.
<br /> On the wastewater side of our business, the real key there is making sure the inflow infiltration
<br /> doesn't overwhelm the sewer system. If it hasn't rained for a year and a half, this hasn't been much of an
<br /> issue for any of the utilities, but when we do get the rain, then we're reminded of the importance of doing that.
<br /> Like most utilities, we're doing special studies, we're looking at the system and making sure we're repairing
<br /> what needs to be repaired. Easement maintenance of course is key to that as is an effective program to
<br /> keep grease out of the system. Thirty to 50% of sewer overflows are caused by grease, and this is a matter
<br /> of growing concern. The solid red line is the capacity of our Mason Farm Wastewater Treatment Plant. It is
<br /> currently here at 12 million gallons a day. We are in a pre-design study right now for the next round of
<br /> improvements at the plan that will take it up to 14.5 million gallons a day. The real high blue dots here are
<br /> peak month flows at the wastewater plant, back in the days where we got a lot of rain—Hurricane Fran,
<br /> Dennis, Floyd, all those tropical storms. Last year's peak month flow was quite low. Here are our projections
<br /> in the future, and you can see we're needing to improve the capacity of the plant soon and that's why we're
<br /> under design. That next round of improvements should last us to 2013-2014. For our biosolids, we have a
<br /> very successful land application program. We have gone through a new process at the wastewater plant that
<br /> produces class A quality product. Reclaimed water is something that is not happening now in the OWASA
<br /> service area, but we are looking at our next door neighbor, the golf course, possibly using them for irrigation
<br /> there.
<br /> Current drought, Terry talked about the lake levels and it is exactly the story you're going to hear
<br /> from us. Right now we have a 220-day supply remaining. And certainly that's adequate, that's good. But
<br /> Cane Creek, our largest reservoir, is 6.5 feet down. In the 12 years of existence, this time of year, the
<br /> second lowest it's ever been is only a foot down. That's scary stuff. This is something of increasing concern
<br /> and we certainly appreciate the fact that we have a new conservation ordinance in place and we feel that our
<br /> timing on the seasonal rates has been good. If everybody washes their car tonight, maybe it will rain
<br /> tomorrow.
<br /> Emergency response, we do have emergency interconnections with Durham, Hillsborough,
<br /> Chatham County, and I just can't stress the importance of having these. And certainly we've been very
<br />
|