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About Butte Falls bulletin. (<1994 Dec.->) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 1, 2000)
Co p s Co mer - By Mel Ray Public Works News by- Pete Vorbeck set procedure and using a pressure gauge, Jack can not only determine if you have a leak but also how big the leak is. Call Public Th e Meter is Running ZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA Works (865-3220) and schedule an appoint ment if you suspect that leakage may be The past month of August marks the first time causing a high meter reading. Be prepared to in the history of Butte Falls when the total help Jack to do the procedure. Public Works amount of water used by individual users was is limited to giving advice about private prop measured by water meters. A look at the erty water problems. Householders will have numbers will raise an eyebrow or two. The to make their own arrangements for repairs. total volume of water metered during July in gallons was 6,155,020. That’s 6 million, 155 thousand, and 20 gallons! The High School football field soaked up 624,000 gallons by itself. Most of the Town ’s conservative house hold users found their first metered bill not much different from past bills. But a few users experienced what could be described as water meter shock! I used how much? NO WAY! Some few, after looking at their August bill, displayed what could be described as water meter rage — meter rage being water shock cranked up a notch or two. I used how much? NOWAY! OUTRAGEOUS! Besides, WATER is FREE'. Well, yes water is, in a sense, free. Just bubbles up out of the ground. But, getting water from spring to faucet is far from free. Town just spent one million 600 hundred thousand dollars up grading the water delivery system. And, the cost of maintaining and operating the system is an ongoing expense. Households that experienced high volume gallon use during July fell into two groups. One group just ran a lot of water. Period. Mo other explanation for the meter reading. The other group lad leaks of one kind or another in the eater lines on their property. Indoor leaks. Outdoor leaks. Faucets. Toilets. Showers. One property had a mainline leak that sent its meter buzzing toward 160,000 gallons of water received int eh 30 day period! Public Works, with the expertise of Jack Hayes, can help property owners answer the question “ Do I have a leak? ” By following a Making the change from an un-metered water system, using all you please whenever you please, to a metered system is a way of ASKING users to become waterwise. It is also a way of TELLING users “ Thou shaft not turn ‘er on and let ‘er run all night, for if Thou doest, Thou shaft payest through the nose.” Becoming waterwise is a fairly simple matter. Keep waterlines in repair. Washers in the faucets, especially outdoors. Water the lawn and garden, don ’t drown them. Overwatering a garden leaches nutrients from the soil, makes it less productive, and the food less nutritious. Give the lawn and garden what they need when they need it, like house plants. And this is how the water goes through the hose — an open hose will run at 18 gallons a minute, with a sprinkler attached it will run 4.5 gallons a minute. Even a small faucet leak running a half gallon a minute will add up to over 22,000 gallons a month and raise the monthly bill about $8. Running one sprinkler for one hour will put 270 gallons on the lawn or garden. The main thing to remember in the water meter game is that the meter is keeping score. In summer the score goes up, but goes down the rest of the time. Being waterwise boils down to keeping yard and house water lines in repair and using common sense watering methods during the lawn and garden months. Ownership of dogs comes with inherent responsibilities. Among these are that you may be liable for any damages incurred by your pet to another ’s property. The Town of Butte Falls has adopted a leash law. The leash law requires all dogs to be on a leash or properly housed on your property. Many times I have seen dogs running about town. I have tried to catch as many as I can but un fortunately the dog many times wins. There are also some civil liabilities that may be incurred if you show a pattern of disregarding the established leash laws. Please be a responsible pet owner. A reminder for those who wish to purchase a dog license. I f you need to get a license for your pet please contact Lori at City Hall. Lori can save you a trip to Medford for your license. Hunting season is upon us. Many bow hunt ers are out in the woods and transiting our city. Soon the general season for deer will be here. We will see an increase in vehicle traffic as well as people traveling through with loaded firearms in their vehicles. Please remember to unload your weapon while traveling to and from your hunting area. To: Butte Fa!Is Town Council In the past month and a half the Butte Falls Ambulance Crew (Mercy 12) has had a few calls where extra hands were needed. We would like to thank Dave Teresi and Tom Hayes for their assistance with a call that originated in the city park. Their help on the scene and with the helicopter landing was appreciated. Mel Ray with two calls that came after this one. Both calls required extra people that we just didn ’t have at the time. The one call where we lost a long time resident, Jerrel, would have been hard to do without his help. Because he was on this call, the EMT and First Responder were able to do procedures that we would not have been able to perform if Mel wasn ’t there helping with CPR. I think a lot happens in this town that doesn ’t get through the communication lines — the GOOD stuff like this. I think about these last calls and how they would have been different ftaw h w. mw »aa & iw BwawE if these town employees hadn ’t been available. Thanks again and see you on the =1 next one!__________ By-Carrie Driskell
