Residents face water contamination

The water system at Squaw Creek Canyon Estates has had many problems over the past year: burned-out pumps; inadequate water supply; rationing. Now the water has been contaminated.

On December 4 a notice was provided to the customers of the water system to boil the water before using it, as the water was contaminated with both fecal coliform and E. coli bacteria.

The water system, owned and operated by the Remund family, has since been chlorinated and flushed. However, as of Sunday the system had still not received a clean bill of health from the county. But, as of Saturday there were no more E. coli present in the water system, according to Andrea Robinson, one of the water system's owners.

"We still need to boil the water, as there are still some fecal coliform in the system," she said.

Many of the problems that have plagued the water system and caused friction with residents appear to have resulted from a lack of communication.

"I think that many of the complaints that have been made about the water system out here are a result of poor communications between the owners of the system and the customers," said Wayne Warren, a resident of Squaw Creek Canyon Estates.

Some residents were not aware of the contamination problem with the system.

"They (owners of the water system) did try to notify people, but there were a lot of failures. There were some people who didn't know about the problem with the contamination until they saw it on TV," said Warren.

Notices were placed on each residence and one was posted at the mail box location in hopes that everyone would be informed. However, some residents do not use the mail boxes and come and go through their garages or back doors, missing the notices placed on their front doors.

Speculation abounds as to how the water system became contaminated.

"I understand that the water system got contaminated because of breaks that were caused by contractors that were working in the area. Bend Cable was doing a lot of upgrading, and there were some breaks that occurred while they were working," said Bob Temple, a resident of Squaw Creek Canyon Estates.

However, Robinson disagrees.

"The water is tested at the well head, and it was at the head of the new well that the contamination was picked up. We don't have a clue as to where the contamination originated, as the water comes from more than 800 feet deep. Who knows where the water comes from before it reaches the well," she said.

Residents of Squaw Creek Canyon Estates have been frustrated with their water company for months.

"We would get an e-mail stating that the water would be off between certain hours, and in my example it was right when I had to get up to go to work," said Rich Riddle, a resident of the area.

Many of the problems resulted from an inadequate supply of water and a failure to conserve resources.

"We had a meeting this summer and asked for people to conserve since there just wasn't enough water," said Robinson. "The consumption doubled after the meeting, as some people thought that they would over-water in case we ran out. The demand over took the supply, and we lost a pump, so we had to monitor and turn the system off to preserve it. Of course, everyone blamed us, but there just wasn't enough water to go around, especially when some people used so much."

In the midst of the summer problems, Ron Remund, Robinson's father, became terminally ill. He died the day after Thanksgiving. Memorial service preparations were taking place this week, which contributed to the communication problems.

"I know that we haven't been as good this week about returning calls, but there was a lot going on for us, and the memorial service was yesterday (Saturday, December 8). We are also in the dark about when the water system will be cleared up. We just have to await the test results," said Robinson.

Adding to the drama is the slow release of information coming back from the laboratory that is checking the water for contamination.

"I know that everyone is tired of boiling the water. I am, too. As soon as the results are back, we will let everyone know that the water is safe and perhaps we can try to get back to normal," said Robinson.