Greetings to all.  Yesterday we had a situation on our mountain regarding the water system.  Rich Cook, who is in the process of selling their home and moving to Kansas to be closer to his son, called me around 9:00 a.m. and said the indicator on the tank at mid spring was in the RED.  I went to look at the tanks and the indicator was in the red and I then went to the 2 tanks at the top and that indicator was also in the red.  Here's the reality of it all.  The tanks at the top of  the mountain supply 7 homes :Wynn's, Elbracht, Barth, Schroeder, Cook, Davis and Scales. The mid tanks supply 9 houses:  Furniss, Bourke, Rawls, Helm, Smith, Saccuzzo, Kroeplin, Paul and Gerber. Now, where are the tanks located?  As you drive about half way up you will see several leyland cypress trees planted on the right side by the curve and there are 2-2500 gallon tanks buried with an indicator stick coming out of the top of the tank. About a foot of blue, a foot of yellow and a foot of red. As you continue up the road on the flat section you will see 4-1500 gallon tanks on the left and this is the main spring.  A stick coming out of the tanks that shows Blue and White and an old fashioned water pump where water is coming out (which is overflow).  Driving further up the mountain you will see 2-1500 gallon tanks on the left at a tight switchback.  Indicator stick there is Blue, Yellow and Red.  This is mid spring.  Driving to the top where our Tractor shed is, there are 2-1500 gallons tanks.  Indicator stick is Blue, yellow and red.

 Now back to why the indicators at mid spring and the top tanks were in the red.  I called Merle Kroeplin to look over the situation with me and brainstorm over what had happened.  Our first inclination was that  we had a leak somewhere. We then walked back where the spring is located and felt that the water line from the spring to the tanks must have a break.  I then called Harry Furniss who came and walked down the mountain where the water line is and found two places where the line was broken and repaired the line.  A tree had fallen on the line in the last couple of days. If someone had not been observant those 4 tanks would have emptied very quickly.  The mid spring puts out about 85 percent of the water supply while we pump to those tanks twice a day and then pump from there to the top tanks. 

This is what I am asking everyone to do if you drive by those tanks.  Please pay attention to those indicator sticks.  If you see them in the yellow or red, and very little of the blue showing at the main tanks call one of us: me, Merle Kroeplin, Harry Furniss or Rick Elbracht. Our phone numbers are on our website (valleyvistanc.us).

By the way the remainder of the 13 houses are on the main spring. While we are on the subject of our water system I need to mention a couple other things.  If you have a leak at your home or suspect a leak, call us.  Also please repair a toilet if it is leaking like a flapper gone bad. A single toilet that keeps running could lose 1400 gallons or more a day.  Aslo, always turn the water off after using an outdoor hose. If you leave for a couple of days turn your water off to the house.

Sorry this got a little lengthy but we felt that we had to bring this up to every resident.  If you have any further questions please give me a call.

Thank you. 

Dave Parsch