System in Crisis - Part 2

 Even a system that has been running well for years seemingly can't avoid a rough patch from time to time.  This time, January/February 2021, has been one of those.

It's been brewing for awhile.  Too few people doing too many of the tasks that are needed to keep things running.  Events started coming to a head a year or two ago when the "maintenance person" notified the Board that he would be moving sometime in the next 2 or 3 years.  This generated a wee bit of consternation, mostly because of the way tasks have been allocated  by default over the past few years.  If you look over this recent blog, System in Crisis - Part 1, you will see why.

The immediate reaction from the Board was to request the creation of an "operations manual" as well as some searching for someone who would be able to take over.  The result of this, in practical terms, was to create a whole new category of work - defining and documenting all of the steps that are regularly needed to keep a water system for around 50 people running every day, year after year.

On several occasions, the maintenance person was "out of town", so to speak, and when the inevitable issues popped up, it fell to a very small number of other community members to sort it out.  Some of those community members had been volunteering for the system for many years and were at the point in their lives that they didn't want to spend hours troubleshooting and fixing whatever had broken.  But unfortunately, by the time these issues popped up, there really were only 2 or perhaps 3 people in the whole subdivision who understood enough about the water system to figure out what was wrong and how to fix it.

Some of these "events" have been documented elsewhere.

The most recent event, though, was a leak (the second) at a property that has been more or less a problem child property for a couple of decades.  The leak was suspected around Christmas and confirmed at the beginning of January when the water meters were read.  The residents were notified.

Unfortunately, the residents were tenants, not the owners of the property.  Also unfortunately, the actual property owner was in the process of having the property taken away by foreclosure action meaning that there really wasn't an "owner" to deal with.  

The leak itself wasn't exceptional, although it was significant.  Around 7 m3 of water each day when the normal household demand would be closer to 0.5 m3 in 24 hours.  It worked out to close to half of all the water consumed in the subdivision each day.  That said, total water use in the system remained around one-third of the normal daily use during a hot, dry summer.  Serious, but not unmanageable.

The Board communicated with the tenants, with the owner, with the law firm involved, with a local contractor.  A plan was formulated, notice was given to the residents of the property and a deadline for action was established.

Unfortunately, that wasn't good enough for at least one resident who then proceeded to attempt to micromanage and undermine the decisions of the Board and criticize the actions of both the Board and the maintenance person, seemingly for not "being around" when a couple of events happened to take place, not taking the leak seriously enough, whatever.  It's important to keep in mind that this maintenance position is a volunteer position, not a paid position, but also to note, once again, that there really aren't any other people in the subdivision who can troubleshoot and fix things that go wrong.  Other than the one person who was doing most of the complaining.

Board members were, understandably, upset.  As of this writing, two have resigned, one has agreed to stay on for a short time until things can be sorted out, two new Board members have been recruited and the maintenance person has given notice that he intends to step away from all his volunteer duties sooner rather than later.  The word "immediately" was only avoided by some luck, the quick actions of two remaining Board members and the resignation of another.  And, fortunately, no further criticism from the bleachers.

As the Board-imposed deadline arrived, so did an excavating contractor, and within 2 days, the leak was fixed.  Pretty much as the Board had dared to hope it would.

But now, we have a number of angry, upset community members, a Board in disarray, and the possible prospect of losing the one person who has been doing much of the nuts and bolts work to keep the system running over the past several years.  It hasn't been a happy time here in Shangri-La.

One of the lessons from this is that an organization should never take happy times for granted.  They are unlikely to last.

System in Crisis - Part 1

It seems that, over the years, organizations get into the habit of "letting someone else" do stuff.  Eventually, that can result in a few individuals handling almost everything.  In our organization, this situation has reached a point where something has to be done.

This is currently how our system runs and who runs it.

The Board of Management:

    Ideally, there should be 5 members on the Board whose job it is to oversee the management of the entire system.  Recently there have been only 4 Board members.  With recent resignations and new additions, there appear to be 4 again.

The Water Teams:

    A dozen or so members are assigned to (normally) 2-person teams that are responsible for four things during a 2-week period on a rotational schedule with other teams: 1) monitor the reservoir level, 2) adjust the lake pump timer accordingly, 3) keep bleach tank topped up and 4) clean the filters at an appropriate interval.  Once the automated level and pump control system is operational, the reservoir level should not require much monitoring but there will be the facility to do that monitoring online.  Note that not all teams actively carry out all 4 of the tasks mentioned above.

Water Sampling:

    Takes water samples from the reservoir and one other location and delivers them to IHA's facility in town so they can be tested for the presence of bacteria.    

    Traditionally, this has been handled by one person but could be shared by a small team carrying out the job in some kind of rotation.

    This is a critical task that must be carried out properly and with care.

Maintenance:

    At this point, January 2021, one person is now responsible for looking after all of the following, with exceptions noted where appropriate.

    Financial:

• receiving meter readings and updating the billing spreadsheet.  Note: quarterly meter readings have been handled by another community member for a good number of years and there are now two people can share this job.

• integrating that spreadsheet into the quarterly statements

• emailing statements to water users (snail mail for two residents)

• logging on and recording all online payments for about a month after each quarterly billing period.

• recording all e-transfers.  Note: payments by cheque are received and deposited by a board member, unfortunately one who has recently decided to resign from the board.

• paying all bills

• keeping all financial records, reconciling statements, annual volunteer credits, etc

• investing society funds in appropriate deposits

• Preparing and presenting financial statements to the Board and to each AGM

• Purchasing - see details in next section.

    Maintenance:

• looking after ALL maintenance items which can include electrical wiring changes, magnetic pump switches, pump hookups, pipe fitting, replacing leaky valves, leaky pipe fittings, etc.

• installing ALL new equipment, planning for that installation, welding, pipe cutting, pipe layouts, wiring, etc.

• Planning and carrying out the water meter project starting in 2008, installing many of the meters, some with the help of a plumber, others with another volunteer or two, building the boxes for the meters that are installed by the street, inspecting those meters and boxes on a regular basis each year and repairing meters when defective.

• Chlorine tests, chlorine injector adjustments, injector repairs, new diaphragms, cleaning, etc.  Note: water samples for weekly bacteriological tests have been carried out by another volunteer which has contributed greatly to keeping our system in compliance with the province's water quality requirements.

• Turbidity measurements at certain times of the year.

• Scheduling reservoir cleaning and the occasional high-chlorine sterilization of the entire distribution system.

• Inspection of filters, replacing those that seem worn out.

• Monitoring and adding bleach to the tank when it gets too low.  Note:  some, but not all, water teams include this in their duties.

• Monitoring reservoir levels and adjusting the lake pump timer when necessary.  Note: some water teams do this as part of their duties.

• Regular inspection of our three buildings, making sure heat is on in the winter, off in the summer, that there are no leaks.  Checking for potential building repairs.

• Checking and adjusting the air charge of the pressure tanks at the reservoir.

• Planning for ALL future repairs, modifications: researching, ordering parts, arranging for contractors, etc.  Currently, for the 2021 season, the maintenance lineup includes a major main line valve replacement, a remote reservoir level monitoring program with remote pump control capabilities, the addition of one new property to our system, a planned overhaul of our fire hydrants (the first in 40 years) and researching the possibility of adding UV treatment to our processes.

• Flushing the hydrants, standpipes and distribution lines usually twice each summer.  This is now planned to include scheduled hydrant maintenance: disassembly, lubrication, gasket replacement when necessary.

• Disposing of all garbage and recyclable containers from the treatment building.

• Purchasing - Once every month or two:  Bleach -  buying from Walmart or the RCWC in Nelson and delivering to treatment building; Occasionally:  O-rings for filter canisters, diaphragms for injectors, any other parts (valves, water meters, repair parts for water meters, pumps, magnetic switches, etc).

    Secretarial:

• completing annual reports to two different government departments in support of our water license.

• writing an annual report for our EHO at IHA.

• Recording data from the treatment building and reservoir, collecting financial information, etc., to use in those annual reports.

• Responding to requests to update the “property table” with contact information for residents.

• Filing annual online reports to BC Societies following each AGM. This also included a one time rewriting our Constitution and Bylaws so they could be transitioned to the new online system now used by BC Societies.

• Maintaining the Society's filing system.

• Managing the volunteer list, arranging for volunteer credits and keeping track of volunteer hours and maintenance activities.

    Training:

• training and/or orientation for every new recruit in recent years – water team members, for example. This also included training for a member who very helpfully took over the bookkeeping system for a number of years, a job that has now reverted to the maintenance person again. Training for another member when they started taking meter readings a number of years ago.  Note: In more recent months, our meter reader person has helped by training a new volunteer to collect meter readings on a quarterly basis. Additionally, another member has recently taken on the training of a new person to take water samples for bacteriological testing.

    Miscellaneous:

• meeting with operators of other water systems (RDCK at Ymir, Lardeau, Schroeder Creek, Woodbury, Fletcher, Mirror Lake), viewing their systems and hosting a number of visits for those interested in seeing our own system.

• meeting with IHA's EHO and handling questions and requests from her many times over the years.  It's worth noting that this area of communication has become more difficult in recent years to the point that we only communicate in writing, keeping a permanent record of all communication.

• Setting up and managing the Society's email address and writing ALL of the content for our website which includes operations instructions and a mandatory emergency plan required by IHA and our regulatory departments in Victoria.

• Preparing rate increase submissions to Victoria

• FireSmart, while not specifically a Society function, takes more time. Two members have been involved in planning and reviewing suggestions about those plans, another has worked with the maintenance person on several occasions and some other community members helped in the initial year, 2019, and some have done good work around their own properties. This past COVID year it's been mostly the maintenance person with help from two other dedicated members. Some of our plans also involve making the Society's buildings more fire resistant, so the Society (ie: the Board) needs to be involved.

Water, Water, Everywhere...

Starting in late fall 2016 and continuing until May 2017, the system experienced a couple of significant leaks that consumed a good deal of volunteer time and required considerable sleuthing to track down.  You would think that such volumes of water would be easy to follow to their source, but such was not the case. The story unfolded this way...

Late in the fall of 2016, it was noticed that the reservoir level was dropping more than would normally be expected, given the time of year.  Obviously, a leak.  But where was it?  We wandered the route of the main line, we wandered around the different properties, we checked consumption at water meters, but we still couldn't figure out where the water was going.  One complicating factor was the amount of snow we had that winter.  Feet of it, making it nearly impossible to see wet ground, not to mention the thought of digging holes to fix anything.

Then, one day in mid-March, as I was spending some time wandering around, wondering where the leak (or leaks....) were, I happened to open a curb-side meter box and what to my wondering eyes did appear but a foot or two of water in what should have been a dry hole.

Unfortunately, this was only days before I was leaving for 6 weeks in Europe, and there was still snow around....  We decided to wait.

One practice we had been following was to turn off the water to the west and lower part of the subdivision at night, in the desire to lose less water.  We'd been doing this every night between 9 pm and 6 am.  We decided to keep that up for another 6 weeks.  Later in April, we set to work.

Once we started digging, the leak became apparent pretty quickly.  What's amazing is how much water can disappear through a relatively small hole.  And that's all it was.  A piece of copper pipe with a small hole right at a fitting.  A few hours of work and that was fixed.

Observation over the following few days indicated that our problems hadn't been solved.  Large volumes of water were still going somewhere.

By early May, we had determined that at least some of it was going to one particular property, one which had, initially unknown to us, started a medical marijuana grow operation, using large amounts of water for cooling purposes.  In mid-May, we decided to install a second water meter near the shutoff valve at the edge of the property.  Just as we were preparing to dig that hole, I received a call from a neighbour on the adjoining property.  Were there springs in the area, she wanted to know.

So the next day, after we excavated for the additional water meter, we dug a small hole along the side of the house where the "spring" seemed to be, and found a break in a waterline.  An hour later and it was fixed.

Our problems weren't over, as the next post will explain.

Water Quality During the Spring Runoff

It's spring.  Snow in the surrounding hills is melting.  As everyone here knows, this increases the sediment in the streams and rivers and makes our water source, Kootenay Lake, more murky, or turbid.

While increased turbidity isn't necessarily unsafe, it's considered an indication of risk.

If you want to read a short article from Interior Health, you can find it here:

http://www.interiorhealth.ca/YourEnvironment/DrinkingWater/Documents/turbidity.pdf

In our water system, we have several ways of dealing with turbidity and monitoring the safety of our system.

1. We filter the lake water and clean filters regularly
2. We treat with chlorine
3. We test chlorine levels regularly
4. We can also test for turbidity

Recent tests (as of April 30, 2013) show Lake water from our intakes (about 100 ft deep) to have a turbidity of around 3.5 NTU.  This would merit a water quality advisory if we were drinking unfiltered and untreated water. Anything over 5 NTU rates a boil water advisory.   After filtering and treating, turbidity measurements show around 0.5 NTU or less.  This is what you are getting in your taps and is considered "good" according to IHA.

Chlorine tests done every few days show a free chlorine level of around 0.5 ppm at the reservoir.  Sometimes it's bit higher, very occasionally, it drops below that level.  We aim to keep the free chlorine level at around 0.4 to 0.7 at the reservoir.

We also take water samples regularly to send in for bacteriological tests.  If bacteria were still in our drinking water, it would show up in our test results.  Fortunately, we have had quite a few years of negative results other than a small number of positive results following a drop in chlorine levels as a result of an equipment failure.  Generally our regular monitoring catches these situations before they become problems.

If anyone has questions or concerns about our water or would like more information about our testing procedure, contact us at prwus.info@gmail.com.

Pine Ridge Water Utility Society is owned and operated by members of the Society which is made up of residents of the Pine Ridge subdivision.  We depend on volunteers.

Tracking Down Leaks

 Over the past while, perhaps a few months, some of us have had this feeling that water use seemed to be unusually high.  As an example, in the past couple of weeks, we were running the lake pumps for 8 hours/night and only seeing an increase in reservoir level by 1 foot, about half what we would expect for that amount of pumping time.  Discussion between a few society members focused around where such a leak could possibly be.

The first problem in tracking down such a leak is that you'd expect to see some water lying around.  We're talking about a possible couple thousand gallons of water every day.  We looked around and saw nothing.  Meter readings at the end of March showed that water use at every residence was completely normal, so we abandoned the idea that someone was running a water slide/water park in their back yards.

Finally, we decided to start isolating parts of the subdivision and started with the lower west side of the system, turning the water off for most of one afternoon and running the lake pumps to see if a normal rise in reservoir level was restored.

With some relief, that is exactly what we saw happening.  So, where was that leak?  We happened to notice some water in a standpipe access pipe and then saw that the ground around one shutoff valve was a bit damp.  A few passes with a shovel revealed very saturated soil and when one property's water was turned off, the leak stopped.

We had an excavator in the next morning and the leak, tracked down to a small crack in a brass fitting, was repaired.  A good example of a $2 part in a $100 hole.

Thanks to Bill J and Dave for taking part of their day to fix the leak and the sleuthing that discovered the source.  With any luck, we should be back to running the lake pumps for 3 or 4 hours each night.

Conferring with Interior Health

Took part of the day Wednesday to go on a bit of a field trip. One objective was to see the water treatment at Ymir (see next post), and the second objective was to meet with Renee Ansell, Interior Health's Water Safety Officer.

The meeting in Nelson was quite productive; it was useful to discuss some of the issues we're looking at with our water system. We discussed how we might best consider a Cross Contamination Control Program (CCCP), where the most likely sources of contamination might be and what would be effective ways to deal with them.

We also talked briefly about a couple of possible maintenance issues and potential upgrades and what we would need to do before we start those projects.

It was also nice to hear that our water system is well-regarded in the way we operate our system. Always nice to know the regulator is happy with what we're doing.

Repairs at the Reservoir - September 28/11

Many of you will know that we've had a water leak at the reservoir for some time now. On Wednesday, a small crew of volunteers fixed the leak and cleaned the reservoir.

There have been several reasons why we've put up with this leak for as long as we did. Among them was the difficulty in figuring out where the leak was coming from. At first, we thought it was a leaky drain valve. Then we became convinced that the overflow system was leaking, possibly through a crack in a corroded cast iron pipe.

Then there was the difficulty in finding the right materials to make the repairs, once again not being absolutely sure where the leak was coming from. Obviously, we weren't able to drain the reservoir every time we wanted just to have a look, so we had to prepare for whatever we might find.

In the end, we made a custom 6-inch plug for the drain hole (shown in the bottom picture) and had materials on hand to fix any leak in the overflow pipe, should we find such a hole when we drained the reservoir.

I can report that the leak was from the main reservoir drain valve and that the custom plug fixed the problem, as well as a good tightening of the valve. The repair crew also cleaned up the overflow pipe and wrapped it with materials that should help protect it. The cleaning should last us a couple of years so this is certainly one job we are happy to have completed.

Thanks to the repair/cleaning crew of Gerda, Jason, Hugh, Dave and Effie, and to Doug for his help earlier in the morning when we were testing the drain plug.

This project will pretty much bring to an end the maintenance season for this year. All of the really important jobs were completed with a few things left over for next year. Thanks to those who helped on the projects we did do this season and to those on water teams, the volunteers who take water samples and test for chlorine and generally help keep the system running.

Those Water Meters Again!

With a new house being built in our subdivision, the first in a few years, there has been some "discussion" about water meters, specifically where they should go.

When water meters first went in about 3 years ago, most were placed in the most sensible location: inside the houses, in the basements, where they are protected from frost, corrosion and where the owner can see them. To accommodate a few property owners, and an even smaller number of uncooperative property owners, a small number of meters were placed in boxes out by the street valve. Entirely the wrong place to put such things, but, there you are. More expense, more maintenance, less safety....

This morning, one new owner and I moved one of these "pit meters" inside to the basement. The job took the usual 2 hours, but we're on the way to taking the meters out of this box (shown in the photo above) and placing them in their respective basements. The photo shows why such street locations are the wrong way to go: the boxes rot, the hole starts to cave in and any fixes are expensive and time-consuming, not to mention such holes as significant safety hazards. In my mind, they need to go, as soon as possible.

'Tis The Season

Not a phrase commonly used at this time of year, although with freak snowstorms happening in many parts of the country, who knows?

No, this marks the beginning of the 2011 maintenance season for PRWUS. Other than for emergency repairs, we always hope that anything major will be kind enough to wait until spring/summer/fall. Despite the cool weather we've experienced this spring, it's time to start getting into the mood for fixing things.

The full list of proposed projects, plus a record of what we've done for the past 2 seasons, is on our website.

Thanks to all the work done in the past 2 years, the list for 2011 is substantially smaller and includes a new roof for the treatment building, some finishing touches to the cliff water line box and some miscellaneous painting and general fixing up. With any luck,, then, it should be an easier summer for all of us.

More Treatment for the Treatment Building

With fall pretty much here, it's time to get a few projects tidied up in readiness for winter. One such is the outside of the Treatment Building.

There were two issues with this facility: the most important was the state of the roof. This is another case of 20-year shingles still on a building after about 30 years. That and the buildup of moss and the rubbing of tree branches. The other was just the look of the siding.

So, in addition to some recent work inside to repair crumbling drywall, the Treatment Building now has a new coat of stain. The new roof will go on next spring. For the winter, a few temporary shingles have patched the holes that were there under the moss. Next season we will finish all the repairs that this building badly needs.

Water Treatment - Some Comparisons

The Society occasionally gets questions about why we're using the water treatment system we do and why some other system might not be better or cheaper. In this post, I'm going to try and briefly outline the various options and how they compare.

It's first necessary to say that NOT treating our water is NOT an option. This would place our community under an immediate boil water order and expose residents and visitors to the risk of illness from water-borne pathogens and parasites. Kootenay Lake water might have been safe to drink untreated in the past, but it's not safe now. In fact, no surface water source can be assumed to be safe and when you're providing water to a community, you can't take the chance. Furthermore, as a water supplier, the Society is required by Provincial legislation to provide safe water. The required goal is something called the 43210 standard - more on that in another post. Treatment, in one form or another, is the only way to get those results.

There are essentially 2 treatment strategies: 1) centralized treatment, and 2) POE/POU treatment.

Centralized treatment is what our system uses now. All water pumped from the lake passes through this system and is stored in a reservoir for distribution. The big disadvantage to centralized treatment is that ALL water goes through this system, including water that is only being used to water the garden, wash the car and such. There is no easy or cheap solution to that problem. Our system uses filtration to 1 micron and chlorination. This is a process which has been proven safe, effective and cheap. There are other possible treatment processes, including UV, sand filters, charcoal beds and so on, but some of these are more suitable to larger municipal systems which are using large volumes of water. One concern with chlorination is the chlorine and chlorine byproducts remaining in the water we drink. Given the number of people world wide that also have chlorine in their water, this wouldn't seem to be an unknown problem, but if people have concerns, it can be dealt with at the tap with simple and cheap filters.

One additional advantage to using chlorine is that it protects against bacterial and fungal growth while the water is stored, for example, while it is sitting in a reservoir. This is a benefit that water treated with UV does not have.

From our standpoint, our centralized treatment system meets provincial quality standards, it's effective (we don't get bacteria in our water), it's cheap to operate (only a couple of hundred $$ each year), and that to fix or change anything we only have to go to ONE location, not each house on the system.

POE/POU stands for Point of Entry (where all water is treated as it enters each house) and Point of Use (where a filter might be attached to the cold water tap in the kitchen, for example). POE systems might include filtration (provincial regulations require filtration to 1 micron), UV, or some other process. POU systems generally would use some kind of filter at a specific tap but could also use reverse osmosis or distillation.

A community planning to use a POE system would need to have 100% of the residents approving and agreeing to use this system. There would need to be equipment installed at each house, the Water Society would need regular access to that equipment to service it and the equipment would be owned by the Society. The cost would depend on what process was used, but could be anywhere from $500 to several thousand $$ per house. Instead of having one service location, there would be 26 (with our community's size) and even if each system cost only $500, we'd be looking at $13,000 to install a system like this.

POU systems can be installed by anyone on any tap they want. Consumers could also have their own distillation or reverse osmosis system. Such systems alone would not be approved by Interior Health for a community water supply.

The bottom line for us is that we have a system that is working now, requires little maintenance to operate and is cheap and effective.

The Treatment Building gets the Treatment

Any of you who have shared "water duty" in the past year or two will be aware of the slowly deteriorating condition of the walls in the Treatment Building. Finally, with summer rapidly disappearing, some time on the maintenance schedule was set aside for some work on this part of the system.

There are (at least) 2 problems with the building as it was constructed: wood frame walls sitting on a concrete slab and wall finishing of drywall sheets, neither suitable for a building where
there is so much water on the floor and chlorine fumes in the air. These conditions have joined forces to start rot on one bottom wall plate and most of the drywall is crumbling from the high humidity. Recently, two volunteers removed several sections of crumbling drywall, installed plywood in its place, did some painting and caulked along the wall/floor seam to prevent water getting into the wall again.

Over the past week or so, the inside of the building has taken on a new, fresh look (at least some of the walls have, so far). New shelving is being installed, old shelving is in the process of getting some paint, pump switches have been moved to a more convenient location, and wiring has been located to facilitate enhanced pump timers and/or automatic shutoff systems. Some storage is now available for a few small replacement parts that are needed occasionally in that location: canister "O" rings, injector line foot valves, canister drain valves, etc.

As well, the floor has received a coat of new paint, corrosion on some pipes and connections has been covered over with paint, the door has been stained and trimmed to reduce sticking and new filter canister drain buckets have been obtained. All that remains, for this summer, is to stain the outside of the building. Next summer, the plan is to put on a new metal roof and complete the drywall replacement.

A similar treatment is being planned for the pressure building by the reservoir. The next time you're in the building, take note of the changes, just a few of the things needed to maintain a 30-year-old system.

Tricky Leaks

For some time, there's been a suspicion that the valve on the water standpipe below the Treatment Building has been leaking. Finally, it was obvious that something was wrong so we had the valve and the line excavated yesterday. Unfortunately, the system's plans don't really show where the line is so the digging had to be careful. Finally, however, the valve and the nearby pipe was exposed. Sure enough, there was a significant leak from the valve.

A quick cut removed the pipe and a bit of pressure from 2 pipe wrenches freed the valve which was later found to be completely worn out. Once a new valve is received everything will be put back together again.

Under Cover

After an all-day session of work on Monday, the water line box up the cliff from the lake has been insulated and covered with new plywood. Some repairs remain to be completed, but at least now the cover is completed and the new insulation has been protected (we hope) from rodents by wire mesh installed inside the box.

Since repairs were started 2 months ago, a total of 53.5 volunteer person-hours have been put into this project, not counting some time spent in obtaining materials, cutting up plywood and generally preparing for the work.

During the project, it was discovered that almost all of the main water line was not insulated at all because of the dedicated work of mice and pack-rats and their urge to move the materials in the box around. It was very lucky that the main water line didn't freeze during some of our cold spells during the past couple of winters. In addition, the old plywood and supporting structures were found to be in pretty desperate shape. We have at least started to replace and repair that structure.

Thanks to to several member volunteers from the community for the hours of work spent fixing this structure: Bill J, Dave, Bob C, Gerda, Doug and Hugh, some of whom put in many hours over the past 2 months and especially to the group for spending all of Monday in +30C heat to complete the remaining part of the project in one day. A few hours of work remain to cover some of the last defects in the old box with new treated plywood, but at least now the majority of the repairs are done. Thanks again to the members who helped out on this important project.

Tackling the Cliff

Over the past couple of weeks, 3 of us have spent a few hours working on repairs to the insulated box that protects the 4-inch water line as it rises about 40 feet up a cliff from the lake pumphouse to where it is able to go underground.

The work hasn't been particularly fast: it involves removing the plywood cover, removing what insulation remains, re-packing the box with both old and new insulation, installing wire to prevent rodent damage to the insulation, reinforcing the box, replacing rotten pieces and finally installing a new treated plywood cover. So far, it's taken us about 2 hours for every 8 ft section. As of Monday, we've done about 32 feet and have about 24 feet left to go to the top of the cliff. After that, another 16 ft at the top of the cliff and the pipe disappears into the ground.

So far, we've been able to work from the ground or from ladders. As we move up the cliff, we will have to bring in climbing harnesses and ropes to provide safety.

The weather over the next few days looks uncertain so this project may go on hold until more summer-like weather returns.

The Next Project

Today, Bob C, Bill J and I spent a short time examining the insulated box that encloses the water line between the lake and the top of the cliff. It was identified as one project that needed urgent attention this season.

The pictures tell the story. The plywood covering the box is in a sad condition and badly needs replacing. So too are many of the supporting timbers and posts around the box. The 30-year-old structure is certainly showing its age.

The inside of the box was even worse than we had expected. You can see the exposed pipe. This is how it appeared as we opened the box up. Rodents have moved so much material that much of the pipe, in this location, at least, is exposed and not insulated. The only thing that keeps it from freezing in the winter is the "heat tape" that circles the pipe along its length.

The plan here is to start at the bottom and slowly work our way up the cliff, reinforcing and replacing where needed and, hopefully, encasing the pipe and insulation with a material that the rodents can't get through.

The nice thing about this project is that it doesn't all have to be done at once. We're planning a few days of a couple of hours each, working away in the sun, until it's finished. Anyone who can donate some time to help should contact us and be part of the fun.

We need to paint/stain/preserve the wood on the box and the stairs, replace insulation, install rodent-proof wire, reinforce/replace the wood members and plywood covers, and construct a concrete anchor to facilitate removal of pumps when necessary. We have until fall to get this finished.

Intake Extension - Part 5 & 6

After having to cancel one attempt to attach the new intakes on Saturday because of high winds, we were hoping to complete the job on Monday.

A large group of neighbours answered the call and gathered in the early morning on the beach to launch the assembled pieces. The water was a bit cold, but within a few minutes, the new pipe support and the assembled pipes were afloat and began their short trip over to the intake location.

Unfortunately, as we came out of the bay, we met the wind, coming straight down the Lake from the north. We managed to get the pipes delivered to their new location, but attaching them was quite impossible with the boat being tossed around by the waves.

After a couple of attempts, we tied everything off to the shore and went home for the day.

At 4:45 pm, we got the call from the diver. The Lake is almost mirror calm and we collect our tools, call a few neighbours and meet at the Lake for 6 pm. Within 2 hours, all the connections are made and the cage is lowered to it's spot on the bottom. It was quite a contrast to our experience earlier in the day.

Thanks to everyone who came out to support this project, help launch the pipe assembly, drive the boat, go for parts, wade in the water, provide moral support, get up early in the morning and, later in the day, give up their evening to finish the job. It's the kind of help that makes a community-owned water system possible and it is all greatly appreciated.

Intake Extension - Part 4

The new intake lines are ready and now we wait for calm weather so they can be towed out into the Lake and connected to the ends of our old lines.

The original plan was for Saturday morning, but there was a strong north wind and whitecaps were zipping along on the Lake. Not the kind of weather we were hoping for.

All we need is a few hours of calm weather (warm would also be nice...) and a crew of volunteers, all to happen at the same time.

Intake Extension - Part 3

The diver removed the old intakes the other day. As the photo shows, they were certainly showing the effects of being in the lake for 30 years.

Some of the protective mesh has come off and there was much algae and muck on the pipes.

Two large metal flanges were installed so we can bolt on the new intake lines as they are connected, hopefully in a few days.

I was struck by how shallow the pumps are, even considering the low water level in the lake. Right now, they are probably no more than 5 feet below the surface.

Intake Extension - Part 2

The pipe for our intake extension arrived on Friday. Two-hundred feet of HDPE pipe complete with welded flanges and miscellaneous parts.

We were able to have the trucker meet our group of helpers at Mirror Lake to unload, allowing us to carry the pieces down to the Lake where we tied them to several flotation devices. Later in the morning, we towed the assembled flotilla around to Beauty Beach where they will be assembled in readiness for being attached to our existing pipes.

Thanks to the group of neighbours who helped unload and to another neighbour for the loan of a boat and motor for the tow around the corner.

The project continues.