Thanks to heroic efforts by Rob, Jack, Paul and crew from Vermont Well and Pump company, Todd, Tyler and crew from Pillsubury Excavating and Champlin Associates, we’ll be restoring pressure this evening.
Once we restore pressure, we need to keep it running at all times. One thousand feet of temporary line has been installed from our #2 pump on the ridge line across 2A all the way into the pump house, and we’ve been refilling the storage tank all night. By this evening we’ll have capacity and measuring capability to restart the system. We restarted last night to take measurements of how much water it takes to prime the pipes and test per pressure cycle usage. We had to shut it back down due to lack of capacity in the storage tank, but at least it let the toilets fill.
Once we have restored water flow, we must continue to FIND AND FIX LEAKS as soon as possible. We need YOU to check under your homes. Get a good flashlight, pull some skirting and look for ice and or standing water. With more below zero weather on the way for the end of the week, there may be more issues. If we can’t bring our consumption back down (currently nearly double our normal usage) we’ll be empty again in no time at all. When pressure is restored, you WILL experience issues with some discolored water for a bit. This can’t be helped and it should clear relatively quickly. Only let your cold water run long enough to get decent quality and no more.
As usual, any depressurization of the system forces us to post BOIL WATER notices and follow up with bacterial testing. Until we can be reasonably sure that we won’t be starting and stopping the system, there’s no point in even trying to lift the required order, so stay tuned on that part but expect to be under that notification for a week or two. We’re (almost) all owners here, so we are the utility company. Help do your part by finding these line breaks and leaks.
Thanks,
SGC Coop Board and Ops Volunteers.