Locals holding mop

Published:  Sunday, November 29, 2009 (2 months, 1 week ago)
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BY MIKE FORD
The Delphos Herald
mford@delphosherald.com

DELPHOS — The Delphos-Gillmor Reservoir was built as part of a “Tri-County” Upground Water Supply project, indicating it was intended as a regional water source.
However, it and its corresponding treatment plant have become the financial burden of Delphos alone, leaving local residents to mop up a huge expense. Short of selling water to other municipalities, local residents are very unlikely to see water bills decrease any time soon. According to one Delphos City Council and Utility Committee member, Rick Hanser, the risk of rates increasing is higher than them going down.
“We’re trying to avoid (raising them) at all costs but it’s something we’re looking at; anything’s on the table as far as trying to keep things in line so we don’t have to raise rates but we’re not like the federal government. We can’t print money to cover our costs. We don’t have the luxury of running a deficit budget,” Hanser said.
Diversification is the best way for officials to relieve the local burden. However, securing additional municipal users has proven difficult.
“It’s a matter of how far we can reach. Of those in a reachable distance, Fort Jennings talks like they’re interested but financially, they can’t make any moves and have applied for stimulus funds. Some people in Ottoville are interested and some aren’t; the same thing in Spencerville. There are mixed interests,” he said.
The next best option is to reduce costs and usage, on the city’s part and that of the respective local customer.
City Council President Bob Ulm explains certain measures have been taken to monitor the matter.
“Plans for a Gressel Drive water line have been put on hold. The water plant staff has also instituted energy cost savings at the water plant, reducing their electricity costs from $7,167 last November to a most recent bill of $5,565. Energy conservation devices have also been placed at the reservoir pump station. As experience with the system has grown, water department employees can now produce enough water to meet daily demand in nine hours on weekdays and 6-7 hours daily on weekends. It had previously taken more time each day to do so, requiring the plant to be staffed more hours each day than is now necessary,” he said.
Water Superintendent Tim Williams details the 2-year old water treatment facility’s operations cost.
“The new plant went on line in October 2007. I started the expenditure list from November 2007 expenditures. Some of the months, expenditures are bigger because of loan payments being due. We have done some energy conservation measures to try and keep expenditures down. The city had energy-conservation devices installed at the river pump station as well as the reservoir pump station this summer. We have had the energy-conservation devices installed on the other pumps since 2004. We also had a company in this summer that performed leak detection for us. They surveyed the whole town for leaks. We were losing about 87,000 gallons of water a day. The city repaired the leaks. We are also turning down the thermostats in all the buildings. We perform monthly preventative maintenance on all of our equipment to keep cost down,” he said.
Hanser adds other long-range ideas have been discussed.
“We’ve talked in the past about all the energy-saving devices we can come up with. We’ve applied for stimulus funds for things like solar panels and wind energy,” he said, regarding land near the reservoir that some hope could become a wind farm.
Ulm doesn’t think it’s possible.
“There have been some contacts made; there are loads of wind-farm operators sniffing around Allen, Van Wert and Putnam counties. Quite frankly, it’s my opinion that the property we own adjacent to the reservoir is not nearly large enough to be of any value as an electricity generator through a wind farm. It takes lots and lots of acres, so it’s not a viable option,” Ulm said.
Since there is nothing on the immediate horizon to lower one’s water bill, it is up to the customer to reduce usage if possible.
The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio recommends the following measures:
• Look for ENERGY STAR-approved kitchen appliances that will cook more efficiently.
• Buy a front-loading washer, which uses 1/3-less water than top-loading models.
• Keep the thermostat set to 68-70 degrees and set it back even more when you are away from home. By turning down your thermostat one degree, you can save up to three percent on your heating bill.
• Check your furnace filter monthly and change it when needed. Keep the space around your furnace clean to ensure it is operating efficiently.
• Keep the oven door shut while cooking. Each time you open the oven, the temperature decreases 25-75 degrees. Use a timer if your oven does not have a window to know when your food is done cooking.
* Only run the dishwasher when it is full and load it properly to ensure efficient water circulation. You can save even more water by scraping dishes instead of pre-rinsing them before putting them in the dishwasher.
• Run the clothes washer with a full load, match the water level to the size of the load and use a minimum amount of detergent. Each load of laundry uses approximately 50 gallons of water.
• Be sure to clean your dryer’s lint filter after each use to make sure the dryer is running efficiently.
• Repair leaky faucets and toilets to avoid wasting water.
• Use long-life halogen or fluorescent light bulbs.
• Your home computer can use a considerable amount of electricity. To save energy, turn it off while not being used. Keep in mind that the computer monitor uses more energy than the CPU unit.
• Set the water heater thermostat to the warm setting, or 120 degrees. If you will be away from your home, turn the thermostat down even more. This will avoid using energy to reheat the same water while you are not there.
• Take short showers instead of baths. Baths use 5-15 more gallons of water than showers.
• Save water by installing a low-flow showerhead and limiting your shower time to five minutes.
• Turn off the water while brushing your teeth and use only a partially-filled sink to rinse your razor while shaving.
For more useful tips, visit the “energy and water conservation tips” page in the “consumer information” section of puco.ohio.gov.

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