A misunderstanding has led to rumours that the Cawood Water District is preparing to charge fire departments for the water they use when fighting fires. According to Cawood Water District Supervisor Pete Dean, this is not the case.
“This thing about charging the fire departments for water has got out of proportion,” said Dean.
Dean said the rumour started because of a miscommunication between one of the water district employees and the Sunshine Volunteer Fire Department.
“They give us a report every month on the water they’ve used,” said Dean. “What it is, we just wanted to know who was going to fill out the report, Cawood, Sunshine or Martins Fork. The guy misunderstood and it got all out of proportion.”
According to Dean, while they’re not planning on charging fire departments for water, there is an issue with the use of fire hydrants by fire department personnel.
“Our hydrants actually are pretty sensitive. We’ve got a bunch of them that have been broke. We try to repair them but it costs so much that we just can’t get to them all at one time.”
Dean said that the fire departments have a tendency to turn the hydrants on and off too quickly, leading to problems with the lines.
“The fire departments open and close the valves too fast, which causes a knocking in the line,” said Dean. “We’ve got PVC lines, and this PVC just breaks like glass when it starts hammering.”
Dean pointed out they would not be allowed to charge fire departments for water used in fighting fires because it is considered a public service.
“The Division of Water wouldn’t let us do that,” said Dean.
“They all (fire departments) know they need to give us a report for the water they use,” said Dean.
He continued by saying they have to have the reports so they will be able to calculate how much water is being lost due to leaks throughout the system. He said the report in question is for internal use only, and would not be filed with any outside agency.
“Our water loss is high, and when we lose water, we lose money,” said Dean.
Reach Joe P. Asher at 606-573-4510, ext. 113, jasher@civitasmedia.com
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