Much of our work this last quarter has been meeting with various departments of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. {TCEQ) and Jacob Martin, the engineering firm we are using to design our Pump Station and Disinfection Improvements. In addition, in August, I attended the 2022 TCEQ Public Drinking Water Conference.
We continue to work under an exception from TCEQ. Our issues are a potable well that is situated in a flood plain and was originally drilled for domestic use, a water distribution system whose water lines do not meet current minimum line size requirements, a pump station and distribution system that needs to be approved by TCEQ, and a potable well whose flow rate, per TCEQ standards (.6 gpm per connection) allows for only 25 connections. We have 64 connections.
We are allowed to use the Smith Well, our potable well, as long as we have the water sampled by a certified lab each month. Our water lines will all need to be brought up to minimum 2″ standard. TCEQ is concerned, based upon their modeling that our water pressure does not meet the minimum standard of 35 psi. The results of a inline pressure test done by Jacob Martin has been forwarded to TCEQ and we await their conclusion. The pump station and distribution system design was presented to us and we offered some changes and we are awaiting a final design to approve and then Jacob Martin can forward to TCEQ for their approval. Our connection issue is the one issue that can only be resolved by bringing on line another water source with a flow rate that exceeds the minimum standard.
Tuesday, last we had a TCEQ administrative audit group visit for a site inspection of our facility and our record keeping. No major issues were found with our system or our record keeping. Water pressures and chlorine levels were tested at multiple sites and all were within parameters. We were asked to document the fixes and report back to them.
Cris Turley and I had a conference call with a five person TCEQ Technical Review and Oversite Team. We were discussing, initially, how to bring an older undocumented domestic well online for potable use, the Cabin Well. End result is, yes, it could be approved under an exception, but the well must be inspected and certified by an engineering firm first. An expense that in the end may just tell us we cannot use it for potable use. The team was very helpful in giving us some other ideas and things to consider. Non potable wells are not regulated. We can use them for flushing toilets, irrigation, laundry facility, non-potable sales, and fire suppression.
The costs associated would be for installing separate non potable water distribution lines to cabins and laundry. Installing a pump and storage tank would be necessary and we would install filters and an aerator to remove the sulphur, manganese, and iron present. The result of all these improvements would reduce the pressure on the Pool Well for non-potable use, reduce our potable water use by about 30%, and provide water for fire suppression, laundry and a better quality of non-potable water for our property owners. We still will need to address our connection issue and that can only be addressed by drilling a new well for potable use.
The process will begin with hiring a consultant to look at our property and help us locate the best location to drill on our property, in proximity to our current system, and in a location that does not conflict or impact negatively our Smith Well. We will begin the search by asking our local drilling firms for recommendations. We will also get estimates to drill a new well. We will present our findings at the next board meeting.
We finally have our Water Project fund set up correctly on the Balance Sheet as a “Reserve for Water Project”. The Reserve for Water Project has a balance of $32,327, and is current through September. This year’s addition is 5% of Cabin Income thru Sept.