Chatham Water Official Calls for System Capacity Improvements

water pipe5CHATHAM – Dry weather continues to stress water systems across the Cape, but Chatham’s in particular is exacerbated by multiple factors.

The town recently had to take one well offline due to the construction of a nearby iron and manganese treatment plant. It won’t be tapped again until the construction is complete, but Water and Sewer Advisory Committee Chairman Larry Sampson said the issue isn’t so much a lack of water but a lack of pumping capacity.

“The loss of well number six has hurt us this year by the tune of about a million gallons per day,” he said. “We have a very thin margin available of buffer; in the event that we would lose an additional well, we would find ourselves in a very difficult situation.”

Sampson said the committee is working to put forth some suggestions to improve the pumping capacity and to encourage conservation wherever possible.

The propositions include hiring a consultant to recommend rate increases based on infrastructure improvement goals, regulation changes for mandatory conservation with the cooperation of the state, increasing storage capacity, additional wells and modification of regulations having to do with irrigation.

Sampson also said he hopes to increase the town’s water system safety margin to 20 or 25 percent from 10.

Overall, Sampson said the issue of increasing pumping capacity trumps general conservation, but both are issues which need to be addressed.

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