Pinery Pipeline Voumel 6 Issue 3

Pinery residents have been doing of good job of reducing water use to comply with our voluntary restrictions, but some people may be overdoing it -- we have seen some dying lawns in our community. This is unnecessary, and it can get expensive if your lawn has become so damaged it has to be replaced. It is possible to cut water use and still have attractive landscaping. The District is not changing its drought-response policy, but we do recommend residents water enough to protect the health of their lawns. Aim for responsible water use, not “no use!”

The District’s two-day per week water restrictions are voluntary and should be enough for a healthy lawn. However, lawns may need more water if the soil is heavy in clay or was not properly prepared when the lawn was installed. If your lawn is showing signs of damage, such as thinness and brown spots, increase watering time. Adjust sprinklers for better coverage and hand water the driest spots.

Bluegrass can go dormant for six to eight weeks, but will still require some watering during dormancy. If you irrigate enough to supply about 1½ inches per week, a dormant lawn will green up in 10 to 14 days. If it greens up but has a few holes or brown spots, some extra water, fertilizer and aeration will help restore your lawn’s health.

If your lawn does not green up and large sections are thin or weedy, the lawn is dying and it may be time for a complete renovation.

Here are a few tips for all drought-stressed lawns from the Colorado State University Extension service:

We live in an arid environment, and water conservation is an important part of any water supply plan. The District recently adopted a Water Conservation Plan . Our use of water in Cherry Creek, also depends on water conservation. The District’s use of the water from Cherry Creek is controlled by our water rights, and by a Plan for Augmentation that is enforced by the Water Court. The Plan for Augmentation allows for the District to withdraw water from Cherry Creek and replace it with water discharged from our wastewater treatment plant. The Plan for Augmentation has assumptions in it regarding the percentage of water that is used indoors, versus outside for irrigation. It is important for us to all to make careful use of this precious resource.

The Cherry Creek Basin Water Quality Authority is preparing the Cherry Creek Reservoir Watershed Plan 2003. The Watershed Plan will describe the Authority’s vision, goals, and objectives, and recommend action steps to meet the water quality goals for the Reservoir.

In an effort to gather input from the public about their thoughts and ideas on how to protect this important resource, the Authority hosted three open houses in Parker, Franktown, and at Cherry Creek State Park in late July. Interested citizens are invited to visit the project website at www.Cherry-Creek.org to learn more about the Plan and to ask questions and make comments or they can call Carol Anderson at 303-740-3874.http://www.cherry-creek.org/

The design for the expansion for the Wastewater Treatment Plant is proceeding on schedule. Final construction documents for the first phase of construction will be completed this fall, construction bids will be received toward the end of the year, and construction will begin in early 2004. The District will be using several sources of funds to pay for this project. In November of last year, we received a $7,000,000 loan from the Colorado Water Resources and Power Development Authority. This loan is at an interest rate of 3.21% and it will provide the majority of the funds needed for the first phase of the expansion project. This loan will be paid back from District revenues. The majority of these revenues are projected to come from new growth. Each new home that is built in the District pays a tap and connection fee for water and sewer service. These fees are used to pay for the infrastructure that the District builds to provide service to new development. In establishing our tap fees, we have projected the cost of the treatment plant expansion including the finance costs. We have some financial partners in the treatment plant as well. The Town of Castle Rock signed an Intergovernmental Agreement with the District in 2000, and we are in the process of finalizing an agreement with the portion of the Canyons Development that is south of Crowfoot Valley Road. Both of these agreements are for sewer service and they require Castle Rock and Canyons to contribute to the expansion of our facilities.

Phase 2 of the expansion will be for the solids handling process, including new holding tanks and drying equipment for Biosolids production.

Phase 3 will involve doubling the Biological Treatment Process, providing an additional 1.5-MGD capacity.

The Pinery Water and Wastewater District is committed to protecting your drinking water. Our goal to help protect our valuable drinking water resources by providing public awareness and education to you and our drinking water customers on how to prevent contamination and pollution through unprotected cross-connection to our important and necessary drinking water supply. As part of that effort, we are updating and enhancing our Cross-Connection Control Program.

A cross connection is a connection between the public drinking water supply and a non potable source which may affect the quality of the drinking water. There are many types of cross-connections, for example, a cross connection a residential customer would have are sprinkler systems and threaded hose connections. Cross connections are allowed, provided they have proper protection against backflow.

A backflow is the reversal of flow back to the drinking water supply which may cause contaminants to flow back in through unprotected cross-connections. Backflow is caused by two conditions. One condition is called backpressure, where the pressure on the customers side becomes higher than water supply pressure. The higher pressure can be caused by pumps, boilers and other sources of high pressure. The other type of backflow is called backsiphonage and happens when there is a sudden reduction in the water pressure in the distribution system, such as during firefighting or when a water main breaks, water flow can be reversed. This can create a suction effect, drawing the non-potable substance into the potable water system.

The customer’s responsibility is to protect cross connections within their property against backflow by installing and maintaining backflow prevention devices and assemblies. These devices and assemblies insure that the water flows in one direction, and doesn’t allow for pollutants or contaminants to flow back into the drinking water supply. With your assistance in the Cross connection Control Program we can protect our drinking water supply.

Keep an eye out for more information in upcoming newsletters and community events on the Cross Connection Control Program.

As with most of the District’s employees, Russ Holmes and Tim “TR” Richard bring many of their talents from previous “lives” into the District, giving us a chance to use ALL their abilities and giving them diversity in their daily jobs.

In the 4 years Russ Holmes has been with the District, he has become our “Water Project Guy”. Running the backhoe, building chemical feed systems and keeping them running, PRV maintenance and operations, pump station operations, backflow prevention program and rebuilding pumps are some of the duties Russ tackles. He also maintains the District fire hydrants and keeps them operating properly.

Russ tackles everything in his job with the same enthusiasm he does sports. In the winter, he is snowboarding. In the summer, he plays volleyball. And he still can’t turn down football or paintball. “Anything that requires getting rowdy really gets my attention!” “One of these days I’ll settle down and stop supporting the local surgeons.”

One thing is for sure, Russ likes the variety in his life, work or play. “It’s good to know when I come to work, no matter how stressful the day may be, I’m going to have a good time before I go home.”

When Tim “TR” Richard joined the District nearly 3 years ago, he had already been in the District for a number of years, cleaning our sewer mains as an operator with the private contractor, DRC. So you could say he’s learned his job from the inside out, probably better than most of us. When he’s not overseeing and maintaining the collection system, he’s working at the other end of wastewater, managing the solids handling and Biosolids production processes. His agricultural background gives him an “intuitive feel” for producing this soil amendment for our customers. He also does a lot of general maintenance around the treatment plant and vehicle maintenance for the District.

In the summer, TR enjoys riding his motorcycle. In the winter, he jumps at every snowstorm to get out on his snowmobile. His other passion is all types of hunting in the fall and winter months.
This is also what TR likes about his work, “Each day there is something different to do. I also like the consistent hours.” And when there is a backup in a sewer main, TR will usually be the man first on the job, driving up in the jetter truck he custom designed for the District, doing what ever he can to make it right again.

This summer we are completing several projects that will expand our system, add to our water supply, and improve the operation of our water system. Following is a brief summary of each of the projects:

Mary Applegate retired May 30th, 2003 after 22 years in the District office. Mary will still be around from time to time, but she says she has plans to spend time with her grandkids and possibly do some volunteer work. We wish Mary all the best in retirement.

	The picture at the left shows a sewer service blocked with tree roots coming into the main line causing some water backup.
	This picture shows the same main line after the roots were mechanically cut out. The water has receded but the customer still may have a problem with the roots.

During this recent drought, trees and shrubs have gone to great lengths to find water to survive. These lengths can reach right into your sewer service or mains in the form of their roots. Root intrusion due to the drought may become a problem in the next few years as tree roots go looking for any source of water they can find. 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. Copper causes problems with our treatment process. 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 $20.00. Please call 303/805/1839 ext 254 for additional information.