PROJ00283

• Contract/PO #: FS0009X
• Contractor Name: Swink, Town of
• Contract Type: Loan
• Water District: 0
• County: Otero
• Loan Projects - Doc Type: Feasibility Study

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Frequent repairs have been required on many of the ABS and PVC plastic lines.
It is believed that the primary cause of failure has been the type of materials
and type of joints used when these extensions were made. The condition of
the cast iron mains is unknown. Judging from the age of the pipe, the quality
of water conducted and the soil conditions in the area, most of the existing
cast iron mains will require replacement or major repairs. Inadequate pressures
and flow quantities are particularly noticeable on the "hard" water system.
Lawn sprinklers fluctuate from zero discharge during peak hour loading to
excessive pressure when the well pumps first start up.

2.5 WATER UTILIZATION

Water usage in the town can be considered as basically normal domestic residen-
tial use. Since all connections to the system are on a flat rate monthly
charge (without meters) excessive water users cannot be identified. Published
data on Annual Average per Capita Water Use indicates that cities with
unmetered systems have a much higher water use per capita than cities with
fully metered systems. These figures for seven cities in Colorado are shown
in Table 2. Probably the greatest waste of water in Swink is the responsibility
of the Town itself. The practice of unmetered service connections and un-
metered water production facilities can amount to extremely high quantities
of unaccounted for water or excessive water use by many residents. Leaks can
develope in the mains or service lines that can run for months without being
detected. Lawn irrigation systems can be turned on and allowed to run con-
tinuously during the summer months without incurring additional cost to the
consumer. Often times on fully metered systems, a leak will be detected
first through the pump meter readings. Occasionally it may take several days
to locate the point of leakage but at,least the maintenance personnel are
alerted that a substantial leak has occurred and can be looking for it. With-
out the meter readings the leak might run indefinitely.

The town has been adjudicated well yields amounting to 775 gallons per minute
of "hard" water and 90 gallons per minute of "soft" water. The total quantity
of water available to the town by adjudication is deemed adequate through the
year 2020. The utilization of the total quantity of water available will
be dependent on the economics of providing and distributing this supply
as potable water to the residents.

2.6 WATER QUALITY

Test samples were collected from well Nos. 1, 2, 3~ and 4 and from the school
well Nos. 1 and 2. These samples were submitted to the Industrial Laboratories
Company for chemical analysis. The test results along with allowable limits
or recommended limits are shown below.

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