As it nears an upgrade of its water system three years in the making, Basin faces some crucial project deadlines in the next few weeks — and some significant hurdles.
At its Aug. 8 meeting, the Basin County Water and Sewer District board learned that a new pump installed earlier this year does not meet specifications. It wasn’t immediately clear why. The unit, one of two main pumps, had been replaced after it suffered a “cavitation” failure, taking in too much air.
A replacement pump is expected to arrive and be installed during the first week of September. It must be in place soon, the board said, so that another project can begin to repair and reline the existing water tank. That work has a late September deadline.
Then there are the highly anticipated residential meters. After months of delays due to what appears to be a nationwide shortage, the meters are expected to ship next week and arrive later this month.
The meters have been a contentious point for Basin. They were originally approved by previous board members in 2022; opposition from residents caused the entire board to resign later that year. The current board has assured residents that the meters are not for billing purposes. “They are only for monitoring the system to let us know if there is a problem,” board Secretary/Treasurer DeDe Rhodes explained. “The water is a flat rate charge.”
The board first saw the meters demonstrated by Northwest Pipe Fittings, Inc. in March, 2023, and it finally approved the use of the meters for monitoring purposes last year.
At its meeting, the board also focused on making sure system operators were available and have what they need. And it discussed how to properly post signs warning residents when water testing was to occur. “It turns out,” Rhodes told the board, “Main Street here in Basin is actually I-15. So when we put signs up along the street, the state comes along and tears them down.”
As always, finding funding for the projects and operations pose challenges. The board said it is still waiting for a deposit on an $7,000 emergency grant it had received and invoiced in May. And not all residents are paying their bills on time. The board noted, however, that a recently implemented payment system that accepts credit and debit cards has significantly reduced the number of delinquent accounts.
“We’re making progress, but it’s slow,” said Board President Jason Norman.
