New water system saves millions of gallons

Last updated 4/9/1996 at Noon

If the adage "waste not want not" holds true, Sisters will never want for water. The new water system installed last year has saved the city 62,425,454 gallons of water over a one-year period.

According to Public Works Director Gary Frazee's calculations, that's enough to fill 2,935 miles of 10-inch pipe -- enough to stretch from here to New York. Or it could fill a football field-sized tank 274 feet high.

And besides preserving a vital natural resource, the more efficient system saves wear on well pumps and makes it easier for city employees to operate the system.

Sisters gets most of its water from Pole Creek as it wends its way downslope from North Sister. The city has a water right for 129,000 gallons per day from the creek. Water is diverted into an open pond with a sand filtration system built into the bottom; the city's water is piped from there and from two wells on the outskirts of town.

A new concrete reservoir was built next to the pond as part of a $2.1 million project that rennovated Sisters' antiquated water system. That reservoir, which came on line late in 1994, is electronically monitored so that it dribbles in a measured 88 gallons per minute from Pole Creek. If the city pulls more than that from the reservoir, the wells turn on to supply the extra water.

Things weren't always that efficient. Back in the old days -- before 1988, that is -- the wells ran nonstop from May to September.

In 1988, Frazee installed a timer on the well so that it could be turned off when water use slowed. During the heavy use periods of summer, the city would often draw way more than its allotment from Pole Creek -- some 400,000 gallons per day -- then pump water from the well back into Pole Creek.

That system worked adequately, and, combined with metering of commercial water users, reduced water consumption from 262,324,800 gallons in 1987 to a low of 152,686,200 gallons in 1992. The next two years saw increases as Sisters Middle/High School came into the municipal water system and added fields. The city also brought Mountain Shadows RV Park onto the system.

Between 1994-95, the city completed the water project, bringing the reservoir on line, replacing old pipes and metering everyone who used the city's water. Since then, the city has saved more than 62 million gallons of water.

The new water system -- with new rates charged based on usage -- has not been an unqualified success. Many Sisters residents, used to paying a flat rate for unlimited water usage, saw their water bills skyrocket. The outcry over water rates led the city to reevaluate its rate structure, which may be revised downward in the next few weeks.

The meterization of users was mandated as part of the permit for a new well at the high school and as part of the loan that paid for the new water system. According to Frazee, the days of flat rates and unmetered use are just about gone.

"Meterization is going to be required everywhere sooner or later," Frazee said.

Rates may be adjusted, but from now on, Sisters residents will pay for the water they actually use, although the city's draft water conservation plan acknowledges that the rate structure does not encourage users to conserve.

Why worry about water, though? Studies seem to show that there is a virtually inexhaustible water supply running under Sisters.

Frazee acknowledged that as long as there's snow on the Sisters, the city will probably have water. But, he noted, in a drought, Sisters could draw down the water table to the point where others east of town could be left high and dry.

So Sisters is doing its part, saving water for the days it doesn't rain.

Author Bio

Jim Cornelius, Editor in Chief

Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.