Biddeford & Saco Water Company
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The Latest Biddeford & Saco Water NewsUpdated December 16, 2011Welcome to our web site. The site was created as an informational, educational, and historical tool for our customers and the general population. We intend to regularly update this page. Please let us know what you like about the site, what you don’t like, and what’s missing. HomeServe USA to Offer Emergency Repair Plans
Biddeford
& Saco Water Company residential customers will soon have the opportunity
to purchase a new array of enhanced home repair plans through HomeServe USA (HomeServe).
A national provider of home repair service programs, HomeServe offers
plans that protect homeowners from the cost and inconvenience of repairs that
are not covered by basic home insurance or by their local utility. Starting the week of Dec. 19, residential
customers will begin receiving information from HomeServe describing the
initial offerings. The three plumbing protection plans that will be available
from HomeServe include the following coverages: · Exterior Water Service
Line - protects customers from repair costs for an exterior water line break
or leak – including locating, excavating and repairing or replacing the
water pipe; · Sewer/Septic Line - covers
unblocking the exterior sewer line or all work to repair or replace a
collapsed section of sewer pipe as needed; · Interior Plumbing and
Drainage - covers homeowners from the cost of repairing or replacing leaking
interior plumbing or drainage piping and unblocking sinks or toilets. Customers
who hold one of these plumbing plans through HomeServe will have access to an
Emergency Repair Hotline that is accessible 24 hours a day, 365 days a year
to bring local, licensed and insured contractors right to their home for
repairs. Similar services are already
being offered by HomeServe to customers of the Portland Water District. About HomeServe HomeServe USA Corp (HomeServe)
is an independent provider of homeowner assistance services. The company was
established in 2003 and has grown to protect 1 million holding 1.4 million
service plans across the US against the expense and inconvenience of water,
sewer, electrical and other home emergencies. HomeServe is dedicated to being
a customer-focused company offering best practices in marketing and service.
For more information about HomeServe, please go to www.homeserveusa.com Hundreds of Hydrants
Did you know that during the winter months Company personnel regularly inspect fire hydrants to make sure they will work when needed? The valve to open and close a hydrant is located about five or six feet below ground. After a hydrant has been used and the valve closed, there is no way for the water that remains in the hydrant barrel to drain. Water can also become trapped in the hydrant barrel if the valve has a slow leak. If water is left in the hydrant barrel during the winter, it will freeze and render the hydrant inoperable. Therefore, we have a schedule set up so that all of our hydrants are regularly inspected and kept operable throughout the winter… and there are more than 1100 hydrants in our system! These inspections are an enormous task, but one vital to the safety of our community. Also of obvious importance is making sure that our hydrants can be found when needed. To that end, during the fall, we attach hydrant flags to most of the hydrants in our distribution system in order to make the hydrants visible when the snow piles grow. As we were frequently reminded last winter, snow banks can completely bury a hydrant after a significant storm. If not for a flag sticking up through the pile, it can be a long process to find a buried hydrant! Should you notice a hydrant missing a flag, please contact our main office so that we can get one reattached, and should you see anybody tampering with these flags, please notify your local police department. Winter months are notorious for heating related fires (chimneys, furnaces, space heaters, etc.); it is very important for the safety of your family and neighbors that the hydrants remain visible. Also, after a storm, it may take your local Fire Department and us several days to dig out the over 1100 hydrants connected to our distribution system. If you are fortunate enough to have a hydrant located adjacent to your property, please consider "adopting" that hydrant for the winter and keeping it clear of snow. You never know when that hydrant might be needed, and minutes can be extremely important during an emergency. On behalf of your local Fire Department, the employees of the Biddeford and Saco Water Company, and your neighbors, we thank you for your cooperation in helping to keep our communities safe. Late Fall Projects
We are working diligently to complete a few main renewal projects before winter weather takes hold, in Ocean Park in conjunction with the project the Town has underway in the area, and on a portion of Harrison Avenue in Saco. If the warmer than normal weather we’ve had so far this fall continues, we should be able to complete both projects; if not, we will bring work to a logical stopping point to be completed next spring. We thank everyone for their patience as we continue to work on renewing our system. Trenchless Technology
It’s expensive to replace and upgrade existing water pipes, and a large part of such expenses is the cost associated with excavation, backfill, and restoring roadway surfaces once work is done. In addition, the inconvenience and mess of having neighborhood streets dug up is disruptive and unpleasant for all. Utilities have been seeking ways to both reduce costs and minimize inconvenience for years, and have recently begun to see some success. One of the new procedures is called ‘pipe bursting’. Pipe bursting technology was developed in Europe and is just now beginning to be used somewhat regularly in the United States. Pipe bursting facilitates the replacement of water pipes by using a hydraulically powered device to split the old pipe and simultaneously install the replacement pipe. The only excavation required is at the points where the new pipe has to be connected to a service, hydrant, or another water pipe. When things go well, a pipe can be replaced with a minimum amount of disruption to the area; plus there’s the potential to both lower costs and save time. We first began using this new technology during the late fall of 2003. Since then, we have found that pipe bursting is not the best choice for all of our pipe replacement projects, but we have been encouraged with the results when the technology is used appropriately. We recently decided to use this technology to replace about 1,000 feet of 8-inch pipe in Granite Street Extension, Biddeford. This project has been successfully completed. We were able to complete work quickly with a minimum impact on traffic and local residents. We Offer Direct Payment!
We are pleased to offer a new service - The Direct Payment Plan. Now you can have your payment made automatically from your checking or savings account. There is no extra charge to become part of the program. You will still receive a bill showing the amount that you owe, and when it will be withdrawn from your account, which will be at least three weeks after the billing date. If you have a question or concern with your bill, simply call us when you receive the bill to discuss. If you would like to take advantage of this free new service, either send us an email at info@biddefordsacowater.com or give us a call at (207) 282-1543 and ask us to send you a blank authorization form, or simply click here if you would like to print a copy of the blank authorization form now. Water News Links
The American Water Works Association maintains links to current water industry related news items on their website. Their latest news link and more general news link have been added to the ‘Links’ section of our website. AWWA has also published an interesting discussion about providing water service following natural disasters. 2010 Water Quality Report Available
Like to know what’s in your drinking water? Or what’s not in your water? Our 2010 Water Quality Reports will tell you. The 2010 report will be mailed to all of our customers during the spring of 2010 and is available for immediate viewing online here on our website in the ‘water information’ section through this link 2010 Water Quality Report. If you would like to have a hard copy of our 2010 report, or any of our reports from prior years, simply call our office at 282-1543, and we will promptly respond. We are pleased to be able to report that water quality test results for 2010 are comparable to the results from prior years and that our water has continued to test in complete compliance with all established drinking water standards. Community Water Fluoridation
The
CDC website as of January 7, 2011 included the following announcement: “The
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is proposing a change to the
recommendation for the optimal fluoride level in drinking water to prevent
tooth decay. The new recommendation, 0.7 milligrams of fluoride per liter of
water, replaces the previous recommended range of 0.7 to 1.2 milligrams per
liter. There are several reasons for this change, including that Americans
have access to more sources of fluoride than they did when water fluoridation
was first introduced in the The
Maine Drinking Water Program has initiated the process of revising
fluoridation rules for the public water systems in the state. In the
meantime, they have issued interim guidance concerning fluoridation levels as
discussed in these documents: January 10, 2011 fluoride recommendation January 10, 2011 fluoride guidance Effective,
Additional
information on this subject may be found through the following link: http://www.cdc.gov/fluoridation/fact_sheets/cwf_qa.htm Water Rates May Rise
The Company may be filing with
the Maine Public Utilities Commission for a modest increase in rates sometime
later this year. There are a number of reasons why such an adjustment may be
necessary, including the rainy summers we had in 2008 and 2009, the economy
that has been very slow to recover, and federal stimulus spending. The bad
weather and bad economy combined during 2009 in a perfect storm to suppress
water use, which automatically pulled the Company’s revenues down.
As we all know, the weather during 2010 was much better, and 2010’s
good weather facilitated a delay in filing for an adjustment. But that good
weather cannot make up for all that was lost during prior years, and some
adjustment will soon be necessary for the Company to be able to continue to
provide good service. If the Company does ask for a rate adjustment, it will be for as little as possible, just enough to keep the high standards the Company has for outstanding water quality. The Company’s rates are among the lowest when compared with other water utilities, and even with an increase, will keep that distinction. If the Company does file a rate request, the application will not be filed until winter, and customers would not see any change in their bills until sometime in the spring of 2012 at the earliest. Empty Barrels
We had lots of empty food-safe barrels, but once we got word out that we were giving them away, lots of folks stopped by, and now we don’t have any left to give away. However, we are always generating more, and we would be glad to give them away as they become available to anyone who would like one (or more) to use for whatever reason. Each barrel has one or two 2-in. threaded openings in one end, and the other end is solid; however, we would be glad to cut the top off the barrel for you if that would make the barrel a better fit for your plans. If interested, just call our treatment plant at 282-9141 to discuss… perhaps we will have one available when you call. Water ConservationWe have a supply of conservation kits that can help reduce water use in your home. The kits include a low flow showerhead, two faucet aerators, and a weir that can be placed to reduce the amount of water used each time a toilet is flushed. The cost for each kit picked up in our office is eight dollars ($8.00). If you can’t come to our office, we would be glad to mail one or more kit(s) out to you if; postage and handling costs are four dollars for the first kit and one dollar for each additional kit in the same request. Simply send us a check for the number of kits you want and we will mail them along to you. Saco River Watershed Monitoring ProgramA few years ago, the Saco River Corridor Commission initiated a water quality monitoring program. For the last few open water seasons, volunteers have monitored various water quality parameters at over twenty locations along the Saco, Ossipee, and Little Ossipee Rivers. Each of these three rivers is located within the Saco River Basin. The basin covers an area of 1,700 square miles in total. The data gathered through this process will establish a water quality baseline for the entire watershed. If anyone is interested in becoming a volunteer and participating in the valuable program, please contact the Saco River Corridor Commission.
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