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New reservoir-monitoring system will save city a lot of water and work By
Joe Rowley PARADISE -- Mayor Lee Atwood will soon be able to leave behind part of a lifestyle that resembles that of a fruit grower. Much like orchard owners taking their water share, he often has to worry about water at odd hours of the day and night. But that will change when the town's new telemetry system becomes fully operational next week. On Tuesday, workers finished installing most of the components of a system that will allow the town's water reservoir, wells and town hall to communicate with each other. The setup, called a telemetry system, consists of automatic sensors and controls connected by radio transmitters and receivers. Until now, when the springs the town depends on for water ran dry in the early fall and winter, it has been Atwood¹s responsibility to keep the reservoir full of water. That meant daily trips to the reservoir to open the lid and look in, Atwood said. And if the water was too low he would have to drive out to one of the wells and start the pump. "(Lately we have been) pumping pretty consistently every other day. We would pump for 12 hours and turn them off for 36," Atwood said at Wednesday¹s town council meeting. The new system will automatically check reservoir water levels, signal the pumps to start pumping, and turn them off when the reservoir reaches a certain level. It includes a unit at the town hall that will receive a signal when the water level hits a dangerously low level, or if there is an intrusion at one of the monitored sights. That unit will then use the telephone line to send an alarm to a series of phone numbers, including Atwood's, to notify them of the problem. Council members discussed several options for connecting the telemetry receiver in one room of town hall to the only phone jack in the town council room. Since the roof is at a couple different levels, the council worried that there would not be a straight run between the two rooms, or that walls would extend above the ceiling, making it necessary to go through brick. "You can see the dilemma," Atwood said. "I want it to look halfway decent and not have wires hanging down." "If all goes well it should be running by the middle of next week," he said. The telemetry system cost about $16,000 to install, Atwood said. He pointed out that it will help the town manage water more efficiently. With himself turning on the pump and leaving until he can get back, he said, the reservoir could overfill and start pumping water out to waste. The new system could save the town a lot of man hours and wasted water. "We¹re at the end of the third dry year now," Atwood said. "The wells have been getting a lot of use."
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