Dear Residents,

Patrick and I met with Hap this morning to discuss next steps with our water usage difficulties. In a 24-hour period that ended this morning at 9:30 AM, the Village well (#2) pumped 200,000 gallons, 8,333 gallons per hour. The water from the well head before treatment tasted slightly salty. In order to recharge the aquifer below Well #2, we request that residents stop automatic irrigation until we can find the cause of the over usage even if you have a private well. We are using Well #2 as its meter shows gallons pumped rather than the hours pumped in Well #1. We could reduce the slightly salty taste by using Well #1, but we need accurate flow data from Well #2. To keep this in perspective, according to the water meter in my house, we pumped 21 gallons in a five-hour period (4 gallons per hour) from 11:30 AM this morning with at least three people in the house. (We do not have a private well or an irrigation system.)

Hap will walk the bulkheads between now and Monday looking for signs of leaks or any indication of Village water flowing into the harbor. Hap also contacted a representative from USGS asking if they can help us locate any underground leaks.

On Monday morning at 9 AM Hap will turn off a valve near Village Hall that will halt all Village water supply from Village Hall to Dering Lane to Shore Road, back along Shore Road to Locust Point, then up Shore Road back to Village Hall—from Boylan to Tausik to Baker to Hogue and everyone in between. We plan to keep the water off for four (4) hours to measure any change in usage. If Hap records a drop in usage on Monday after he shuts off this valve, we’ll know the problem is in this area. If he records no change in use after the shut-off, we’ll know the problem exists on either side. In that case we’ll start turning sections off as we determine valve locations to measure any change in usage.

We’ll keep everyone updated as we learn more.

Thank you.

Best,

John T. Colby Jr.
Mayor