Pay to find water infiltration

To the Editor,

The average home in La Conner consumes 324 cubic feet of water each month, and pays a sewer bill of $53.41 per month.

The average inflow and infiltration (ground water) is 37.76% at the sewer plant. If I&I could be reduced by 50%, the bill for sewer service could be reduced to $40.72. At 25% the bill would be $42.69, and at 10% it would be $43.68.

There is a 97% correlation between rainfall and I&I. Maybe some of the homes have their roof drains connected to the sewer. That is a no-no.

The Town Council allocated $50,000 in 2020, and another $50,000 in 2021, to rehabilitate the collection system. To date no expenditures have been made.

During the month of June, the sewer plant enjoyed a profit of $85,595.74. The cash balance in the fund was $818,596. We can afford to spend some of that on rehabilitating the collection system.

Fighting leaky sewer mains is an ongoing problem. The Town’s engineer created a program to systematically examine the mains with a video camera.

We should encourage the plant manager to follow that plan.

Sincerely,

Dan O’Donnell

La Conner