Fairchance water woes outlined
With spring approaching, it is time for the borough council to get involved 100 percent with our fresh drinking water supply and water lines.
The main water line breaks will continue, and the income from the water customers will diminish due to emergency repairs, and due to the neglect of new water lines not being installed in the last four to five years.
In 2014, Fairchance Borough spent over $100,000 for emergency repairs. Also, we are losing about 40 percent or 200,000 gallons of fresh drinking water per day.
We understand that the borough has applied for grants exceeding $11 million, however, the chances of receiving grant money can be zero to less than adequate amoun from past experiences as it is very competitive on the county and state level.Regardless, all loan monies must be paid back. They are not free!
Instead of waiting, we are asking the borough to move ahead the simpler way, just as any small business company would do; by doing things in smaller phases:
Phase I:
Hire two more qualified employees to assist in doing the excavating work with current employees. Bid out the larger and more difficult jobs.
Map and spray paint every street where the water lines are located; including the home taps, street shut-off valves, hydrants, the age, size and type of waterline!
Install 2,000 to 4,000 feet of water lines per spring, summer and fall. That equals, about 6,000 to 12,000 feet of new water lines per year. (The replacement lines are only for the oldest lines/sections of the borough).
Waiting will definitely cost more for labor and material. Water line breaks will continue to occur with loss of thousands of gallons of fresh drinking water, and additional cost for emergency repairs at additional inconvenience to customers and possibly health problems.
Finally, for the past several years, the borough (has not) and (can not) issue new water taps for future growth of new construction of houses or commercial expansion. The end result is the loss of cash flow and possible failure for the borough to own and operate its water facility.
Phase II. We need your help to participate in a (visual look) of locating water leaks. If you are a property owner/resident in the Fairchance or surrounding area that receives your water from the Borough of Fairchance, please follow your water line from the outside of your house/business to the shut-off/tap next to the street main line. Next, take a walk from one end of the street to the next. Look for visible water leaks or if the topsoil stays wet most of the time.
Report it immediately to the borough by calling the office secretary or water department at 724-564-9980. Please inform them of the location and street address. Next, be sure to make sure the leak is fixed in several days. If not, call them again! Never assume its fixed, till its fixed.
Phase III. The borough needs to purchase two to four data loggers/water flow monitoring instrumentations to accurately detect loss of water pressure on each individual section of the main water lines. This modern technology testing, must begin today and used on a daily basis, till 99 percent of the leaks are detected and fixed. If you would like to make a donation for these high-tech data loggers, please get in touch with the borough council.
Phase IV. As an interested concerned citizen of the community, please attend the monthly borough meetings on the second Wednesday of each month at 6:30 p.m.
Please continue to come to the meetings till the water leaks are fixed and the council begins work, on a small scale, to install 2,000 to 12,000 feet of new water lines
per year. For the past four to five years, there were (zero) new water lines installed.
Steve Seman, Jr. is a resident of Fairchance.