THE WATER LINE
April 2000
  Volume 3, Issue 1

District Construction Projects for 2000

The following projects are planned for 2000:

Construction of a small building near Reservoir 7 (South Pinery Parkway and Democrat Road). This building will house pumping and treatment equipment for the well that was drilled on that site this past fall. The building is also being designed to house maintenance equipment for the High Prairie Farms Metro District.

New Maintenance Building - We will be constructing a new maintenance building at our wastewater treatment plant site to provide shop space for routine maintenance activities, and to provide storage and warehouse space for spare parts inventory and equipment.

Drilling of Wells - We are working on drilling three wells this year. One will be drilled on the site of the District office next to our new pump station; this will be a well drilled into the Arapahoe formation of the Denver Basin. The other two are planned to be drilled in the Cherry Creek alluvium. The schedule for these other two wells is uncertain. The wells are located in the foraging area of the Preble's Meadows Jumping Mouse, which is a threatened species. The District has submitted information to the US Fish and Wildlife Service about how we plan to protect the mouse habitat during our construction. We will proceed to drill these wells once we receive approval.

These new facilities are critical to our ability to continue to provide high quality service. While we don't expect to have any problems with service this coming summer, we will not have any extra capacity in our water system until all of these facilities are complete. A severe drought, or damage to any of our facilities (two of our wells were struck by lightening last year) could put us in a position where we would require some voluntary watering restrictions.

Cleaning of Water Spots

The water that the District provides is moderately hard (hardness is a measure of the dissolved minerals in the water). These minerals are left behind when the water evaporates and cause spots that can sometimes be difficult to remove. Our customers have provided us some comments on cleaning supplies that they have found to work well. If you have other favorites that you would like to share with our customers please call our office with your suggestions.
Here are the products that have received favorable comments.

Sewer Repairs Underway

As anticipated in an aging system, a few problem areas were detected during video inspections of nearly 8.5 miles of sewer line in 1999. Any lines that were deemed critical were repaired immediately last year. Other lines need repairs but are not causing any service disruptions currently. In February, the District began repairs to these lines. We are going about repairing lines in a number of ways, considering the most cost effective and the least customer disruptive methods for each repair.

You may have noticed an entourage of trucks in your neighborhoods. These trucks from Insituform carry equipment that repairs sewer lines from the inside of the pipe. The process inserts a custom made felt tube saturated with liquid resin into the damaged sewer line. Another rubber tube filled with 200° water is pressure fed through the felt tube, expanding it to fill up the existing damaged pipe. The hot water thermally activates the resin and cures it, forming a jointless, corrosion resistant plastic pipe within a pipe. After the pipe is cured, a video camera and robotic cutter travel through the pipe, cutting in all our customers' service taps. All of this is done through manholes. The process usually takes a day, with the only disruption being that the services on the line being repaired need to be dry for the process. Customers are notified a day or two in advance so they can plan to not have water running from their homes the day of repairs.

As amazing as the Insituform process is, it is not the best way to repair all lines. Heavily collapsed lines or lines that need to be rebuilt to get better flow through them, have to be physically dug up and repaired. The District will be making some of these repairs this Spring and plans to cause as little disruption as possible. Improving service to our customers over the long term makes these kinds of repairs necessary.

For homeowners who need to replace a damaged service line from the house to the main, there are a couple options. There is the " dig a trench to bury a new pipe" method, which can be expensive and leaves you with little option but to replace the surrounding landscaping also. Then there is a trenchless installation, which leaves only entrance and exit holes to excavate and backfill. This last method is less expensive than the first, at around $60 per foot.

This year, the District will continue our program to do television inspections and cleaning of our sewer collection system. The TV inspection program has currently completed about 2/3 of the Districts' sewer lines. This activity will cause no interruptions in services to our customers, however you may see jet cleaners and vans belonging to DRC Construction in the streets and green belt areas near your homes. This program assists the District in identification and correction of problem areas prior to system backups. Routine cleaning of sewer mains assists in prevention of sewer main stoppages by removing accumulated solids. We are finding a lot of locations with heavy grease accumulations that will likely cause future blockages.

We urge all District residents to refrain from dumping cooking grease and oils down their drains. If you should have any questions please call (303) 841-2797 for additional information.

Where does our water get used?

Note: This article was moved to the FAQ's Page.

District to get Voicemail

The District Office has just acquired a voicemail system. This new system will allow Mary (our Customer Service Representative) to more effectively deal with your phone and over-the-counter inquiries with fewer interruptions to answer the phone and transfer calls. As we begin using this new system, please give us your feedback and let us know if you encounter any difficulties.

Contractor Drills Through District Water Main Again!!

On March 2, 2000, a water main on Lightening View was broken by a crew putting in new power lines for IREA. The water break was repaired and water service was restored to our customers that evening. We apologize for any inconvenience and we appreciate the cooperation of our customers while the repair was being made.

Bios Greening up Neighborhood Yards!

It's Springtime in the Pinery and we're making Bios (short for Biosolids) ! Although the Bios we are preparing right now will not be available until late summer or fall 2000, we do have a good supply of material we produced last summer. A number of Pinery residents came down to the Wastewater Treatment Facility last Fall and filled up on Bios for their yards. Their yards were probably some of the first ones to green up this Spring because the nutrients have been slowly releasing during the winter months. But Spring is a great time to incorporate Bios into the soil. This material will aid in moisture retention due partly to polymers used in the process, but mostly because its coarseness will open up the porosity of hard packed soils and let water penetrate better. Give it a try. Call Kevin or Shannon at (303) 841-2797 for more information.

Parker Begins Environmental Impact Statement For New Reservoir

The Parker Water and Sanitation District (our neighbors to the north) have begun the Environmental Impact Statement for their new reservoir. As part of their public outreach, they have sent information to everyone in the 80134 zip code. The reservoir is designed to store water and will help Parker meet the needs of their growing community.

Root Control

Tree roots are rapidly becoming a problem encountered by many residents in our older subdivisions. The trees we all love become our worst nightmare in a sewer line with any minor imperfections. Current technology gives us several solutions for this condition. One is to call a plumber every one to two years and have the roots cut out. This will soon destroy your sewer lines. Option two is dig up your sewer service and repair the problem. This can be very costly, destroy landscaping and harm mature trees. Option three is a product called RootX. This product kills roots in the sewer line and prevents their re-growth for up to one year. You can purchase similar products from your plumber, but DO NOT PURCHASE PRODUCTS THAT CONTAIN COPPER SULFATE. . The EPA has approved RootX for use in all fifty states. RootX will not harm your trees, only the roots that intrude into your sewer. RootX can be purchased at the District office for $25.00. Please call the office at 841-2797 for additional information.

What is this Cherry Creek Basin item on my property taxes?

The Cherry Creek Basin Water Quality Authority was established on April 28, 1988 by enactment of HB1029, specialized legislation relating to water quality in the Upper Cherry Creek Basin. Specifically, the legislative charge to the Authority is "preservation of Water Quality in Cherry Creek and Cherry Creek Reservoir". The Authority is governed by a Board of Directors. The Board is made up of members from the counties and municipalities with property in the upper Cherry Creek drainage basin and every special district in the basin that operates a wastewater treatment facility.

The Authority conducts an extensive program of water sampling, monitoring and technical investigations to determine the chemical and biological conditions in the reservoir and the upstream basin. The purpose of this work is to investigate and identify options, which may be effective in maintaining reservoir water quality in a cost-effective and efficient manner. In addition to sampling and monitoring, the Authority funds major capital projects that are intended to reduce chemical and sediment load into Cherry Creek Reservoir.

County Builds New Trail Head

Douglas County Parks has just completed construction of a new trailhead for access to the Cherry Creek Trail. It is located on the west side of Parker Road across from the North Pinery Entrance. To get there, proceed down the gravel road and look for the trailhead on the left. There is plenty of parking and room for horse trailers as well.

New Facilities Brought On Line

The District has put our two new pump stations and two new underground storage tanks into service. Construction of these facilities began in early 1999 and they are now completed. We have more construction planned for 2000 (see article page 1). These new pump stations and storage tanks will help us provide service to the south end of our District and to the developing areas west of Parker Road. We appreciate your cooperation during this construction process and we apologize for any inconvenience that we may have caused.

Did You Know…?

Come visit any of our District facilities and find out more interesting facts.

Spring Flushing of The Water System

Over the winter, mineral deposits that occur naturally in the water build up inside the water main due to lower water usage. Every spring, the District clears the water mains that serve your home by opening fire hydrants. The amount of water delivered from the hydrant is able to pickup the deposits and remove them from the water supply. While this may seem wasteful, our high water quality is maintained and complaints relating to taste, odor and color are greatly reduced. The Staff will flush the water to storm and sewer systems when possible but at times will use a diffuser that sprays the water so that it dissipates without causing erosion of the area near the fire hydrant.

At the same time, fire hydrants are checked for operation and visibility to insure that if there is a fire, they are operational and are easy to find. There are approximately 55 miles of water mains and about 350 fire hydrants in the District. This takes our staff approximately two months to complete the flushing, beginning around the third week of March. You will be notified when our staff will be in your area a day prior to flushing by way of a door hanger placed either on the garage door or the front door. If you have any questions or concerns just give us a call at 303-841-2797 and we will be glad to assist you.