Thanks for the feedback and agreement on the water test, good to hear all was fine, I assume the lady with the bleached colored towels down the street from the city water, must have gotten a concentrated dose at some point of time.
A neighbor mentioned the water shortage, this is mainly intended for Mr. Fisher and the Mayor. I had listened to the council meeting last night.
Where in the heck do we find this Water status sign, I have been here 24 years and never heard of it.
Maybe I am rather ignorant, but water that we do not use just ends up going down the Molalla, into the Willamette, and then into the Pacific Ocean, causing further rise in shoreline levels and associated erosion and issues.
If we actually had a reservoir the actual city use would be more important, but here it seems completely irrelevant?
So as long as there is water in the Molalla, it is of no consequence as to the use, correct? (short of what we have to flow to Canby, for example)
Or is this a treatment plant water volume issue, due to crazy amount of new construction all over town recently, with no investments in our water treatment system, and the load that is put on it during dry year?
What day do you begin Level 1, to base the citations on, and the water used the previous month (which month will this be?)? I have a very large garden as well as fruit/nut trees that I normally don’t start watering in earnest until August, and last few years I let things rest.
Are we allowed to take tanks down to the river and directly pull water for gardening purposes? If not, what are your proposed alternatives? (I already hand water, to keep weeds down, and the premium cost of city water) Are there companies we can rent tanks from, that will fill and deliver them? Any city restrictions on putting at 20,000 gallon tank on my property, or sitting one on the road (where we park in front) in front of my house?
My “livestock” goes through about 5 gallons of water a day on a hot day, and I’d like to see additional allotments for that, beyond per resident, as well as for giant garden spaces (say 100’ by 30’ and above (mine is easily 100’ by 50’ for total area)). I’d also like to keep the roses, azaleas, etc. alive, since they are about 24 years old now.
IMHO, the city should fully ban the watering of any lawns and fields at parks or whatever- alternatively, since kids mostly play in backyards, allowing the backyard to be watered every three days, and maybe something similar at like the denser play area at the library park? Also it would be nice to see tips, like telling folks to cut their lawns at 3”, as they are much more able to survive and be green, vs. cutting at 2”.
Long term wise, since the watershed that holds our water, holds it in soil (not lakes like most places), and the soil was burned of organic matter down to 6 feet in places, I do not see a big positive improvement occurring in the next decade due to the heavy damage in the watershed, maybe higher peak flows during rainfall, and much quicker flow response, but progressively worsening in river water levels during dry months- yet I admit I’m not versed in this area. What is the maximum above ground water storage tanks on our home properties inside the city? I know some places like Tigard were fining folks for collecting water with more than two city approved rain barrels. Being more folksy and backwoodsy and the core being the townsfolk and our small businesses, do we have these same affluent high brow BS requirements- and if they exist, can they be officially “lapsed” until regional drought conditions subside?
Do we have any plans in works to add infrastructure to intake water during the wet months, and run entirely during the dry months from storage tanks? Say normal city water needs from June to the first rains in Oct, plus additional capacity added for city growth/industry factors?
It might be interesting to provide at a fee, for non-potable water and tanks (yard and garden water), weekly refill, maybe even one of those small pumps for a garden hose, this could significantly reduce the load on the drinking water infrastructure. Years ago I had a friend who had one of these setups outside Bend. Maybe a downspout feed to fill up during the winter for those that want it, might lighten load on the system a little at times, or even a page/alert system, for folks to be notified to do so during surge storm discharge? Not sure what impact 3,000 homes or whatever with 1,500 gallon tanks- 4,500,000 gallons absorbed vs. discharge volume, as well as 4,500,000 gallons stored for the yard that would not later be pulled out of the drinking water system and water treatment plant? What is Molalla’s daily water use in gallons?
P.S. Charging a small food cart 6,700 dollars for one of their fees is totally insane, the entire City Council and Mayor should be publicly shamed via a publicly announced ceremony. (doubt they pull in 200,000.00 in profit over a year). Additionally during our crisis’, it sounded like plenty of testimony about how they provided vital services…as well as support to our youth doing something productive. You need to really think damn hard on basing the fees on previous year’s taxes (or some such mechanism), that way the large companies would pay their fair share, the small guys their fair share, and like a 50 dollar fee tops, for an individual someone starting out. For new large companies, you could base this off of similar places they have open (like say for Safeway, if it was new, basing it off of Oregon City Safeway revenues for the first year). Sheesh Ladies/Gents!
Doug Leeper
Technical Lead Senior Design Engineer
Garmin Aviation Technologies
503-502-6604 (cell)
Molalla Proud Forest fire volunteer and equipment provider
12 years Honorable Service as a U.S. Marine and 80% disabled Gulf War Veteran
24 year resident of Molalla and homeowner
From: Andy Peters <apeters@cityofmolalla.com>
Sent: Friday, April 30, 2021 8:31 AM
To: Leeper, Doug <doug.leeper@garmin.com>
Cc: Gerald Fisher <gfisher@cityofmolalla.com>; Water Treatment Plant Distribution List <water@cityofmolalla.com>
Subject: FW: Drinking Water Chlorine level call
CAUTION - EXTERNAL EMAIL: Do not click any links or open any attachments unless you trust the sender and know the content is safe. |
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Mr. Leeper, thank you for this photograph, We’ve reviewed the situation this morning as a “Water Quality Issue”, resolving on Work Order #14610. It looks like the test you performed below is showing the same as our own instruments: a chlorine residual of about 1.0-1.5 ppm. This is normal for your water system. State Law allows for safe residuals up to 4.0ppm, though taste and odor issues generally begin to get reported by the public at 1.2-1.5ppm. It’s a fine balance between ensuring safe residuals in the farthest points of the water system without bothering folks that live in the nearer ends of the system. Please contact us any time if you have concerns.
Respectfully,
Andy Peters
City of Molalla
Public Works Operations Supervisor
(503) 829-6855 x220
Cell: 503-793-0507
117 N Molalla Ave
Molalla, OR 97038
From: Leeper, Doug <doug.leeper@garmin.com>
Sent: Thursday, April 29, 2021 4:39 PM
To: Andy Peters <apeters@cityofmolalla.com>; Gerald Fisher <gfisher@cityofmolalla.com>
Subject: Drinking Water Chlorine level call
I was the guy who called about the water smelling like bleach, after the lady down the street had a towel in her sink that dripped and got bleach.
Here is what the pool test kit shows, the photo is not very good for color latitudes, but to the eye, it looks about 2 ppm.
I have a filter that removes 99.8%, so I am not sweating it personally.
Doug Leeper
Technical Lead Senior Design Engineer
Garmin Aviation Technologies
503-502-6604 (cell)