Water and Sewer Authority Receives Excellent Lithium/PFAS Test Results

By LYDIA BERGLAR
News Editor

The Dade County Water and Sewer Authority’s February meeting was moved to March 18th due to scheduling conflicts. A customer attended the meeting to discuss a leak/billing issue, and the authority discussed several informational items, including test results and a leak coverage policy adjustment.

Eric Pettigrew explained that he found a leak one day when he had water in the morning but none later that evening, saying, “I knew exactly where it was at because I had already had a leak out there at the meter about eight months prior.” He turned the water off, but when he received his bill, it listed 242,000 gallons of water used.

Stating that this leak occurred sometime within an eight hour period, he explained that if that much water had leaked within that time frame, his yard would’ve become a swimming pool.

Pettigrew said, “If 242,000 gallons would’ve run out, I wouldn’t have had water for about two weeks.” Tony Payne (board member) affirmed that 242,000 is an extreme amount to be used in such a short time frame.

Eddie Cantrell (board chairman) asked if potentially another leak existed prior to the main incident. Pettigrew does not think a small leak could use that much water within a month. However, Elizabeth Zeller (general manager) noted that they’ve had two other cases use that much in a month.

While Pettigrew does have the insurance for such incidents, it was used earlier this year and only covers one leak within a 12-month period.

Cantrell asked Zeller to send an employee out to investigate and the authority will then report back to Pettigrew. The board agreed with this next step to get more information before reaching a decision.

Under old business, Zeller noted that the authority would hold a public meeting the following day to inform the public about improvements that will be made to water mains along Vanguard Industrial Road and GA-299.

Zeller then reported on server upgrade quotes from RJ Young, including her recommendation to select the one that costs $20,000 more because it provides redundancy. In the case of an outage, she said, “We’re dead in the water. Work orders can’t go out. Can’t pay the staff. Can’t help the customer over the phone.”

Tim Fowler agreed with her recommendation, noting that the $20,000 difference in cost would be spread over the five-year period of the warranty.

Cantrell said they would make a SPLOST request to the county commission to purchase the server.

Cantrell also mentioned the $1.5 million federal grant received for repair of the screen/intake at the sewer plant. “Marjorie Taylor Greene pushed that through the house, and Senators Warnock and Ossoff let it pass in the senate, so that is done. They will inform us of the procedures to actually get the money.”

Under new business, Zeller noted several informational items for the board members to review.

First, Zeller explained an after-hour call service called Interactive Utility Communication that she would like the authority to consider. IUC specializes in utility services. Zeller said, “They hire old 911 dispatchers…Instead of our plant calling our guys after hours, [IUC] will be calling the guys after hours.”

She said that IUC’s employees are trained in water services and can help customers troubleshoot and check their water meters over the phone. If there are further issues, IUC can then send water and sewer employees out to the site.

IUC would handle calls from 5 p.m. to 8 a.m., on Saturdays and Sundays, and on holidays. The goal is that less of the plant workers’ time will be used on issues that can easily be resolved over the phone. The cost would be around $1,000 a month. The board will make a decision in the future.

Second, Zeller reported that excellent test results were received from Northern Lake Service Inc. Lithium and PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) were undetectable in Dade’s water. She noted that seven more tests will be completed over the next two years.

Zeller later told the Sentinel that several other counties/cities have failed their tests, but Dade is thankful for and proud of their good test results.

Lastly, Zeller presented an update from HomeServe, the authority’s leak protection program. (In 2016, the authority switched from its own leak adjustment program to using HomeServe.) HomeServe and Dade County are now in a new policy that works for the benefit of residential customers and the authority alike.

Previously, HomeServe covered leak expenses that were three times the customer’s monthly average bill. Now, the policy covers two times the monthly average. For example, if a residence’s monthly bill averages $50, the policy kicks in at $100 of expense due to leaks. Previously, the same customer’s expense had to reach $150 before the insurance kicked in.

The authority put together an accompanying informational page for customers, a portion of which reads, “In the event of a costly water bill caused by high-water usage from qualifying leaks or lines breakages, our ServLine Protection Program covers the overage of your costly water utility bill once the active cause of the leak has been repaired. All eligible Dade County Water and Sewer Authority customers have been transitioned to this money-saving program, but if for some reason you’d like to remove your residence from the Leak Protection Program, please call today (855) 883-0443.”