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Problems with water leaving many dry

Aloha Utilities' president says the system has been strained recently because of a tank rupture and higher demand.

By PHIL DAVIS
Published September 26, 2005

TRINITY - Beth Plummer likes a good shower to get started before work in the morning.

But she said water pressure was so low at her Foxwood home on some mornings last week that what she took hardly qualified as a shower. Twice, it was more like a trickle.

"Aloha (Utilities) can't handle the demand," Plummer said of her water provider. "The quality of the water is terrible, but I just accepted the fact we live in Florida and we don't have good water here. But I'm not willing to accept that, when I pay for water, there won't be enough when I take a shower."

The story was pretty much the same in Trinity Oaks. On morning walks, Wayne Forehand watched his neighbor's sprinkler heads struggle to rise, leaving little puddles instead of watering the grass. Lawns roasted in the afternoon heat.

On the eve of state-ordered settlement talks with customers over a decade of water quality issues, water quantity stirred a new wave of customer ire.

"It's frustrating," Forehand said Thursday. "Aloha and the (state) agencies won't work with us. Everyone keeps passing the buck."

On Friday, after talking with Aloha president Steve Watford, Forehand said he felt the utility had a "reasonable explanation" for the low pressure.

Watford told the Times the system was strained because of a tank rupture Sept. 16 and then because too many people in some areas were using sprinklers at the same time. When demand is high, Watford said, pressure problems usually show up in older neighborhoods where pipes can't keep up.

"Pressure was lower than what our customers are used to, and they noticed," Watford said.

There is no law against low water pressure.

Utilities must maintain a minimum of 20 pounds per square inch (psi) before health concerns arise and authorities are notified, said Pamala Vazquez, a spokeswoman for the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. The department relies on utilities to monitor water pressure, Vazquez said.

"Normally a utility runs at 60 psi, so if the pressure drops to 30, those customers are going to be frustrated," Vazquez said. "We understand that it is frustrating and they want better water pressure, but we don't have the regulatory authority to do anything about it."

--Phil Davis can be reached in west Pasco at 869-6247 or toll-free at 1-800-333-7505, ext. 6247. His e-mail address is pdavis@sptimes.com

[Last modified September 26, 2005, 01:18:19]