Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, September 22, 1995 TAG: 9509220052
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: S.D. HARRINGTON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Less than three months ago, Roanoke city officials and citizens celebrated outside the Carvins Cove Water Treatment Plant the completion of $31.5 million in improvements to the water system.
Water pressure problems were solved, they said.
But for some residents in South Roanoke, the problems were just beginning.
An electrical storm in June destroyed a signal line that monitored the water level of two tanks on Mill Mountain. Without the signal, workers at the Crystal Spring pumping station on South Jefferson Street had no idea when to pump water into the tanks.
The downed line meant a summer of headaches not only for the residents affected but also for the city's water department.
The result for about five homes along Sylvan and Prospect Roads at the foot of Mill Mountain was having to choose between washing hair or brushing teeth some mornings.
For the water department, it meant having to send someone to the top of the mountain about every two hours to check the water level of the tanks, said Craig Sluss, water department manager.
Because there was no way to know how much water was in the tanks, the pumps sometimes kept going until the tanks overflowed. Conversely, when not enough water was being pumped up to the tanks, they sometimes ran dry.
Ralph Smith, who owns the historic Rockledge mansion near the top of Mill Mountain, said he went without water for seven straight mornings this past summer, losing water about 6:30 a.m. Smith, who lives with his son, said the water pressure would be back up by the time he left for work.
For the Blackwell family on Sylvan Road - Anne and Todd Blackwell and their three children - water pressure wasn't as much of a problem as the water itself.
When water pressure dropped, air got in the water lines, clouding the water.
"But I've been told it's not dangerous," said Anne Blackwell. "We haven't found it to be any big deal."
When the water sits for a few moments, she said, it goes back to normal.
Water pressure problems were sporadic throughout the summer. The signal line was fixed last week, Sluss said.
But those affected say they are frustrated with the amount of time it took the city to fix the problem.
Smith said he was told the signal line would take only about two weeks to be fixed.
"But here it is September. And that was in June," he said.
Sluss said the reason it took so long is because the type of signal line used is no longer made. The problem has been temporarily alleviated by sending the signal through telephone lines. Before, the water department used a separate line that ran parallel to telephone lines.
Eventually, the water department will have to replace the transmitter and other components to make the complete circuit compatible with the telephone lines, Sluss said.
"Where you have a tank away from a pump - that's when you get into problems," he said.
The city has also discussed the possibility of extending a water line over the side of Mill Mountain from Woodcliffe Road to Ivy Street, he said. That would eliminate any other water pressure problems for those residents at the foot of the mountain because the pressure would be boosted by the pumping station rather than by gravity at the top of the mountain.
Parts of the water line running from the Crystal Spring pumping house to the tanks at the top of Mill Mountain and down to the residents on Prospect and Sylvan Roads date back as far as 1910, 20 years after Crystal Spring became the main source of water for the city.
The underground Crystal Spring runs through Mill Mountain and supplies water to much of South Roanoke and even parts of Roanoke County. About 3.5 million gallons of water can be pumped from the spring per day, Sluss said.
The city's other major water source, Carvins Cove, can provide about 28 million gallons a day.
by CNB