FVWD looking at water meter problems/future pipeline repairs

The Sept. 22 meeting of the Fern Valley Water District’s (FVWD) Board of Directors was brief with no specific actions on the agenda. Directors reviewed the financial status and discussed water meter problems.

Expenses were high in August. But that was due to the first payment to El-Co of $245,000 for the pipeline project in the Howland, Cougar and Silver Tip neighborhoods.

Both the warrants and assets were approved unanimously, 5-0.

General Manager Victor Jimenez reported that staff was continuing to replace failing meters. “It is about 15 to 20 meters per month,” he noted.

It appears, according to Jimenez, that the battery technology for the remote reading meters is lasting only a few years rather than the expected 10 years.

He has frequently discussed the problem and options, including using cellular technology, for reading these meters with the manufacturer, Metron Farnier Meters.

Since the battery area in the meter is sealed, Jimenez added, simply replacing batteries is not a solution.

“I’m exploring options,” Jimenez told the board. “If here are no decent electronic meters, we’ll go back to mechanical meters.”

Director Jon Brown agreed that a cell tower in Fern Valley might resolve the problem. FVWD’s filtration plant would be a good location, he and Jimenez agreed.

According to the billing report, which was for July and August, the district gained a new customer during this period for a total of 1,180, which is also two more than the same period in 2022. More than 98% of the customers are single-family residences, several multiple-family residences and Astro Camp.

Surface water continues to be the major source of water. In August, it supplied nearly 70% of the district’s water. Groundwater provided 32% of August’s water compared to 49% in July 2022.

Total 2023 water production, through August, has been 22.3 million gallons, which is about 1.7% greater than the same period in 2022. However, it is less than the 10-year average for those months. The only two years in the past decade in which FVWD customers used less water in August were 2015 and 2022.

In response to a question about why production has declined in the summer, Jimenez replied to the Town Crier, “It’s really hard to say because things and occupancy have changed so much since COVID. Initially, tons of people moved up, then left [and] then sold their houses. There has been such a change in the occupancy and it hasn’t stabilized. It went from vacation homes to full-time homes to Airbnbs to now vacant Airbnbs.

“We honestly don’t know what is happening regarding occupancy right now so I really can’t comment on whether our production is conservation related or not,” he continued. “It could be fewer people, it could be conservation and then we have big months, so I don’t know if they had good rental months or what.”

Jimenez also noted that the water loss in this period was 15.5%, just less than the 12-month average. But he added, “I’m impressed that the water loss is as good as it was. It could have been worse.”

He described a large water loss on the Tahquitz View line and repairs there will be moved up on the Capital Improvement Plan.