Elkhorn City losing thousands to water leaks

STAFF WRITER

From April through September, Elkhorn City could have saved more than $30,000 of taxpayers’ money if so much water hadn’t been lost to leaks.

Elkhorn City and the surrounding area it serves has 478 active residential water customers and 62 commercial water customers. Based on the average residential customer usage of 4,500 gallons per month and the average commercial customer usage of 15,000, the city should be using approximately 3,081,000 gallons of water per month.

Based on records compiled from the city and from the Mountain Water District, Elkhorn City was losing significantly more than average from April through September, with the lowest usage in April at 5,531,000 and a spike in usage in August with 9,680,000 gallons.

According to Donnie Slone, manager of water distribution and sewer collection for Utilities Management Group (UMG), the industry standard for water loss is to target 12 percent or less water loss. The 12 percent is to account for fire hydrant flushing, fire department usage and line breaks.

However, Elkhorn City has been losing a great deal more than the industry standard water loss, showing a spread from 44 percent to 68 percent water lost each month between April and September in the small city.

By comparison, Slone said Pikeville’s water loss is about 9 percent.

“We’re better than industry standards,” he said.

Angie Creech, who was recently re-elected to the Elkhorn City Council, said she didn’t realize the leak was so bad, but the city did make a big repair.

“They’ve got the percentage way down,” Creech said.

In a letter addressed to Elkhorn City Clerk Crissy Derry, Superintendent of the Elkhorn City Water Department Michael Sparkman wrote that on Sept. 29, the Elkhorn City Water Department repaired a main water line leak that had been leaking for a long time on Route 80 at Belcher.

Sparkman continued to say in the letter that the section of water line was a component of the Interconnector Water Line Project, and should be covered under warranty. It may also be covered by insurance or bond. The city’s water department should look into reimbursement for both water loss and repairs, since the city’s water loss decreased by 44 percent after repairs, Sparkman wrote.

October’s numbers reflected Sparkman’s letter and dropped by about half from September’s 8,539,000 gallons to October’s 4,433,000.

Sparkman did not return messages left for him at Elkhorn City Hall.

Roxanne Blankenship, current Elkhorn City Council member, said Kentucky Rural Water Association came to the city a couple of years ago to help them work on their water distribution lines. She said they were there for several months, and also offered advice on what the city needed to do.

First in the KRWA’s advice was to ask for money to fix the water lines and upgrade the system, Blankenship said. But when that didn’t work out because the money in the budget was vetoed, the agency advised the city to find an another source for water.

“There was no other alternative at the time,” Blankenship said

Thinking with the glass half-full, Blankenship said she thinks there will be resources out there, and she doesn’t think the city council, the new mayor or the people will stop looking until they find them.

“We have some smart people on the board and on the council,” Blankenship said.

She plans to stay active and look for resources because “it affects all of us.”

According to records, Elkhorn City did make an overall profit of $27,086 from April to September; however, the city also paid roughly $32,800 for water lost to leaks during that time.

According to Slone, getting a water system back up on its feet would require fixing leaks and “keeping a constant eye on what you’re selling and what you’re buying,” in addition to changing out meters on a regular basis.

Slone described water meters as the water system’s cash register. Typically, a water system can gain 10 to 15 percent revenue if water meters are replaced regularly, or about every 10 years.

Derry said the water meters are replaced a few at a time on a continual basis in Elkhorn City.

In addition to problems with leaks, the city is also behind on collecting for what they have billed.

From April through September, Elkhorn City is behind on collection for water by roughly $9,000.

Staff writer Lindsay Lancaster can be reached via e-mail at llancaster@news-expressky.com.