Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, October 28, 1994 TAG: 9410280059
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: PAUL DELLINGER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PULASKI LENGTH: Medium
Other options include saving water by fixing leaks in the town's aging system, or buying additional water from Pulaski County.
One more option is to convince the Virginia Department of Health that Pulaski's five recent months of increased water consumption is not something that will necessarily continue.
When a water plant uses 80 percent of its water capacity for at least three months in a row, the Health Department requires either an explanation for the high use or plans to show how capacity will be increased. Town Engineer John Hawley sent a letter of explanation to the department this week.
The unusual conditions that caused water production to reach 80 percent include an increase in Renfro Corp.'s dying of socks for Christmas season sales, and the fact that the summer months of July and August typically see high water use. Renfro is the town's second-largest single water user, behind Magnox Corp.
Hawley said the town is trying to tighten control over unaccounted water by installing new meters, tracking down leaks, and metering users such as recreation facilities even though they are not billed for water use.
Councilman John Johnston told those at a Thursday meeting of council's Utilities Committee that the town cannot account for 30 percent of its water use. The committee will recommend to council when it meets Tuesday that consultants Wiley and Wilson be hired to spend a few days evaluating the town's water situation and outlining options.
``I think it's prudent to do that. I think there are lots of things we need to look at before we talk about buying water from the county. The county wants too much money for its water,'' Johnston said.
The calibration on the water plant's own meter will also be checked, for the second time since the renovated plant went into operation in February 1991.
Mayor Andy Graham told the Utilities Committee that the high water use should be taken seriously.
``We need to start planning how we will correct that problem, if we have to expand the plant,'' Graham said. The town administration should be authorized to start drawing up plans for presentation to council, he said.
Hawley told the committee that water capacity as it is now is sufficient, and would be even with some industrial expansion. ``We could handle another industry the size of Renfro,'' he said.
The unused water supply amounts to 700,000 gallons a day, which Hawley said could serve several ``wet'' industries such as the dying operation or more than 2,300 new residential users. Residential growth has been slow in Pulaski, with the current population about the same as it was in 1940, he said, and the town knows of no planned expansions by existing industries that would require more water.
But for the town to continue marketing itself to new industry, Hawley said, it needs to make sure it has enough water for its needs. The town will see if the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality would allow it to take more water from Peak Creek, look into the costs of a direct line from Gatewood Reservoir to the raw water pump station, and evaluate these alternatives against buying water from the county Public Service Authority.
While it is believed that the past five months of water use is abnormal and will not continue, Hawley told the Health Department, the town will monitor use and see if there is a specific user that has significantly increased water consumption. It also will continue working to reduce its unaccounted water.
The town has purchased new equipment aimed at detecting water leaks. The recent discovery of three breaks in the Franklin Avenue sewer line will save a significant amount of water when that line is replaced, Hawley said.
by CNB