Congratulations! Water Usage Falls Again

Once again, our customers have outdone themselves in conserving water. For the year to date, Pinery homeowners have used an average of 465 gallons per day, down from 499 gallons in 2003. Even more surprising, overall water usage in our community has fallen even though we’ve added 157 new homes and a golf course. We’re growing, but we’re using less water!

Recent wet weather has helped, of course, but we have changed old wasteful habits. You don’t see sprinklers running during a rainstorm very often anymore. Residents are conditioned now to shut the water off and let nature do the work.

Pinery homeowners have used less water each year since the drought began in 2000. Per customer, usage is down 29% from that year. This is a big achievement for our environment. Colorado is a semi-arid state with a fast growing population. By 2030, we’ll have about 7 million people; quite a jump from today’s 4.3 million. Water demand could grow exponentially, yet supply is limited by natural constraints such as precipitation and the amount of water stored in aquifers. Statewide, more than 80% of the water used throughout the year comes from snow melt that fills our rivers and reservoirs. Conservation will forever be an important part of the solution for meeting future demand in Colorado, helping extend the life of the aquifers and reducing the impact of future droughts.

There’s another little side benefit of conservation most people don’t think about - less grass mowing and lawn mower noise all summer.

For water providers, the one downside to conservation is less revenue from the sale of water. Growth in the Pinery has helped us offset these losses, so our budget has not been hit as hard as some in the Denver metro area. Our total revenue is down by about 5% this year compared to last year. Meanwhile, our electricity and gasoline costs are up, same as they are for everyone. We have done a good job controlling discretionary expenses, and will continue to make every effort to keep the budget in line despite the crunch.

We do not know if the drought is over. Clearly the weather patterns in late summer and fall were different. We had more rain in our area, but sections of the West are still dry and reservoirs and lake levels are far down from normal. So, keep up the good work and hope for a wet winter.

District to Lower Property Taxes

The District is once again lowering the property tax rate for our customers. In 2005 the property tax rate levied by the District will be 3.15 mills – a 42% reduction from the 5.5 mills assessed in 2004. We are able to do this because we have paid off one of our bonds. For the next few years the mill levy will remain about the same until we pay off our remaining general obligation bond.

Service Agreements with Castle Rock and Canyons Completed

Several years ago we signed an agreement to provide sewer service to a portion of the Town of Castle Rock.  That agreement has recently been renegotiated to deal with changes in the development plans.  A key feature of the renegotiation is for Richmond Homes to contribute $5,000,000 to the expansion of our wastewater treatment plant.

The District has also completed negotiations with the developer for the Canyons South development off of Crowfoot Valley Road for sewer service.  They will be contributing $3,100,000 to our wastewater treatment plant construction.  Through these agreements we will be able to complete the expansion of our wastewater treatment plant without placing any financial burden on our existing customers.

Reata to Begin Development

The Reata development, which is now known as the Colorado Golf Club, is planning on breaking ground next spring. This project is on the north side of the Pinery – generally between Stroh Road and Betts Ranch Road. It will consist of a golf course and 169 homes. We are currently finalizing the details of how we are going to serve this project.

Douglas County Approves Lease on Bingham Lake

As we reported in our last newsletter, the District has been exploring options for the recreational management of Bingham Lake. We have completed negotiations with Douglas County on a long-term lease to expand the County’s responsibilities beyond the trails and trailheads to include the fishing and boating recreation as well. We are now in the process of getting the lease signed. We are excited about expanding our partnership with Douglas County and we are looking forward to working with them to improve the recreational experience at the Lake.

Wastewater Treatment Plant Expansion Update

You’ve probably noticed a lot of activity going on at the Wastewater Treatment Plant. Cranes, truck loads of equipment and traffic in and out of the site.

Construction began in April. We are into month eight, looking to complete this phase of construction in late spring 2005. We have completed construction of the underground portions of the new treatment buildings and backfilled the areas around them. Walls and roofs are going up and most of the remainder of the construction will be indoors for the winter.

Included in this phase of construction are a new pretreatment building where the wastewater starts its treatment, additional filters where wastewater finishes its treatment, two additional sludge holding tanks (this is where the Biosolids process begins,) and an operations addition where staff can gather to monitor the wastewater processes and organize the tasks needed to keep it all running. There will also be a new storm water detention basin mandated by the State. This phase of construction moves us to a point where all our technology is current, helping us comply with regulations now and in the future. It also adds upgraded and redundant equipment aiding in the maintenance of the facility.

The next phase of construction, which is now under consideration, will help us handle the growth within the District (see articles - Service Agreements and Reata) by adding capacity and additional monitoring equipment as regulations change in the future. These regulation changes are all about protecting our groundwater and surface waters.

Staff Profiles

In the four years John Peyton has been with the District, he has tackled just about every job a water operator can, from behind the scenes pumping, storing, and treating drinking water to the very public inspection of new water and sewer installations. Before any digging happens, John is on site locating District utilities. Before any hole is filled back in, John inspects the repair work. If there is a leak in the water main, John helps repair it. If a customer needs help or has a question regarding their water service, he is “Johnny on the spot” with information.

John likes helping others almost as much as he enjoys doing anything outdoors– hunting, fishing, camping and riding his dirt bike. This is a fondness he shares with many of his co-workers, which makes their group work so well together.

Of his job, John says, “There’s a feeling of accomplishment...and a lot of responsibility involved in keeping safe and healthy water coming to the customer’s tap.”

David Chatagnier joined the District 3 years ago as a water operator and the meter reader. (See article “Meet your Meter Reader.) The first days of the month are spent reading all your meters. The rest of the month he spends helping with water operations and maintenance.
“Because I have the opportunity to delve into such a variety of areas with this occupation, it really makes coming to work every day intriguing. Working side by side with the other Pinery staff definitely makes the job enjoyable.”

When he’s not reading meters for the District, David can’t wait to get home and spend time with his wife of five years and their new son. He also enjoys playing the bass guitar, fishing and snowboarding, of which he says, “I’m still a rookie.” But his real talent is in his side business as a cartoonist. “A dry-erase board that is completely blank really irritates me and it’s a great temptation to take up a dry-erase marker and start filling in negative space. It just so happens that several dry-erase boards exist throughout the District.”

Water Quality Corner

How “Hard” is My Water? What is Hardness?

These are some of the questions we answer on a weekly basis. Hardness in drinking water is caused primarily by the presence of two minerals, calcium and magnesium. “Soft” water on the other hand has very small amounts of these minerals. A good way to think about it is that making a lather or soapsuds is “hard” with hard water and making a good lather with soft water is easy.

The average hardness of the water supplied by the Pinery Water & Wastewater District is 160 mg/L. This is considered moderately hard and is to be expected given the geographic location of the Parker area. Hardness will not harm you, and your District currently does not treat for hardness.

Should you consider a home water treatment system? This is a personal decision. These systems are not needed to make the water safe. In fact, if not properly maintained, the systems actually may cause water quality problems. However, some people do not like hard water. So if you decide to install a treatment system, think about where to install it inside your house. These systems can be installed on a faucet, under your sink, just on your hot water heater or at the point of entry into the house. A water softener can help eliminate hard water spots on your dishes and glasses. Most softeners are regenerated with salt. After the salt is used, it goes down the drain and into the environment. To prevent unnecessary regenerations, set your softener to regenerate after a selected amount of water has passed through it, rather than using a timer. This prevents wasting salt and water, producing a cost savings to you.

Meet Your Meter Reader

If you happen to see what looks like a vehicle from the movie “Honey I Shrunk the Truck,” don’t be alarmed. The equipment used to read meters is a diesel engine 4X4 Kawasaki Mule which has a fully enclosed cab. Also used is a meter gun that sends a radio signal and a handheld computer programmed with the meter route. The meter gun makes contact with a black pad on the lid of the meter and sends a signal with the meter reading to the handheld. When the readings are all collected the data is downloaded on a desktop computer and sent to the billing department.

Of the job, David says, “I guess the most difficult aspect to reading meters is remembering the location of every meter pit. This gets a little more complicated when there is a two foot blanket of snow over nearly every meter pit. Many times meters get covered by landscaping, making my job extra difficult. (Note that District rules require that meter pits be accessible at all times).

“If you think your meter is never read, look out your window the first days of the month and you just might see me. I have had times where I’ve spent nearly a half hour searching for a meter pit. I teased a customer the other day about sending him a bill because I was practically aerating his yard with a probe searching for his elusive meter pit.

“I’m sure that Pinery customers wouldn’t appreciate their meter reader digging up a newly planted juniper bush so the meter could be read. This is why it is important that a call for locates is made prior to landscaping, and that the landscaper pays attention to the locate flags and marks to assure we have access to the water utilities. It is to your responsibility that your meter pit is exposed at all times, especially in case you have a leak in your system. Inspecting the meter pit helps in narrowing down the source of a leak tremendously. During my meter route I will make a meter maintenance list so that when the reading is complete I can go back and correct problems at addresses that are slowing down the reading process.”

Now you know David, your Meter Reader.

Electricity Rates to Increase

The District gets its electricity from IREA. They have notified us of a 7% increase in rates to take effect in the spring. The District’s electricity bill on an annual basis is about $150 per customer (or about $500,000 a year). This is the single largest operating expense that we have. Our Board is currently evaluating how this increase may impact our water and sewer rates.

With the voters approval of Amendment 37 (the renewable energy bill,) IREA may have another rate increase in the near future for their commercial customers to begin to pay for the requirements of the amendment.

Automatic Debits and New Easy-to-Read Bills Introduced

If you like saving on stamps, the Pinery has introduced an automatic debit plan called Automated Clearing House. We have been testing the debit process for a year with a small number of customers, and are satisfied with the results. A very nice feature of the new program is this: your account will be debited on the day your payment is due, so you can “hold on” to that money all month. Please call us at 303-841-2797 ext 0 to obtain a form for signing up.

We have also been working hard to design a new easy-to-read, easy-to-use bill format in place of the old postcards. The new bills are enclosed in their own envelope for privacy, and we have added a return envelope for your convenience. You will also see a new water usage section, showing your household’s water usage compared to the prior year.

The new format will also make it easier for us to communicate with you. We have added a message box section for quick notes, and in case of special events or happenings, we can send out a flier with the mailing. We hope you like the new format and welcome your comments.

New Water Facilities to be Constructed

In addition to the construction at our wastewater treatment plant, the District will be constructing two new water facilities over the winter.

The first one is a new water storage tank to be constructed in the back of the Pinery, on the same site as two other tanks at the end of Ponderosa Way. This new 750,000 gallon tank will be the last one built at this site. It will be a buried concrete tank like the others, and it will provide water for the Timbers development plus additional storage for fire protection for the upper parts of the Pinery. The Timbers developer is advancing the District $800,000 for the construction of this tank.

The second project will be the completion of a new well facility on the western edge of the Pradera development. This well was drilled two years ago, and this winter we will install the pump and construct the building that will house the water treatment chemicals and control equipment.

Happy Holidays
from the Staff  and Board of The
Pinery Water & Wastewater District