SUD Earns 98% Rating on TDEC Survey : Back Flow Device Problems Remain

by Leslie Lytle, Messenger Staff Writer

At the April 22 meeting of the Board of Commissioners of the Sewanee Utility District of Franklin and Marion Counties, SUD manager Ben Beavers updated the board on the results of the recent sanitary survey conducted by the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) Division of Water Resources. SUD received a 98 percent rating. The primary issue cited by TDEC was untested back flow prevention devices.

At the March meeting the board discussed amending the cross connection policy to address customers’ failure to have their back flow prevention devices tested annually. In keeping with TDEC regulations, SUD’s cross connection policy requires customers to install a back flow prevention device anytime there is a possibility water from other sources could enter SUD’s distribution lines. It also requires annual testing of all back flow prevention devices in the system. It is the customer’s responsibility to initiate and bear the expense of the testing and to report the results to SUD.

The sanitary survey faulted SUD for 17 untested devices and seven devices reported as faulty that had not been repaired and retested. Manager Beavers had sent letters to all the negligent customers, but did not cut off the customers’ water, even though the policy calls for this penalty. “I need to start shutting people’s water off,” Beavers said.

As a result of the cross connection discrepancies, Beavers must file a quarterly report with TDEC to verify that all back flow prevention devices are in compliance.

Reporting on the meter replacement program and automated meter reading (AMR) technology being installed by SUD, Beavers said about two-thirds of the customer meters had been replaced and AMR implemented. Aging meters typically give a false low reading. By replacing aging meters, SUD hopes to reduce its high unaccounted-for water loss, 27 percent in the past quarter. Unaccounted-for water loss is the difference between water produced at the water plant and water recorded on customer meters. Beavers said it would be mid- to late-summer before the effect of the meter replacement program was fully reflected in customers’ reported usage.

SUD recently repaired a supply line leak in the Deep Woods area. A customer reported the leak in March. When the leak was being repaired, a passerby commented that he’d noticed the leak in December, but failed to report it. 

Community residents are advised to report any instances of suspect runoff or pooling of water immediately. Beavers estimated the line was leaking 85,000 gallons per month, equal to one percent of SUD’s unaccounted-for water loss.

Following up on the discussion at the March meeting in which SUD had been asked to justify its “high” rates at a town meeting, SUD board president Cliff Huffman suggested SUD ask the consulting firm Raftelis Financial Inc. to generate a layperson-friendly report explaining the basis for SUD’s rate structure. Raftelis advises SUD on what rates to charge based on the cost of providing sewer services and supplying water and the projected future costs for continuing to provide these services. Beavers will ask Raftelis to prepare the report and will post the information on the website. Putting SUD’s rate structure in historical context, Beavers said rates increased sharply in the mid 1990s to address delayed maintenance and neglect. SUD was deeply in debt, and the state indicated it would take over the utility if the situation wasn’t remedied.

The next meeting of the SUD board is scheduled for May 27.