As I am sitting in a chair,
having iodine placed on my arm, preparing to donate blood, I am reminded of the
inextricable link between water utilities and public health. Just as the iodine
swabbed on my arm prevents infection, so does the chlorine we add to drinking
water. Did you know that the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) named the
chlorination of drinking water one of the ten
greatest public health achievements of the 20th century? Typhoid
and cholera are now virtually non-existent in the United States due this fact. Fluoridation
of drinking water also rated inclusion in that ten-greatest list. Water
utilities are responsible for one-fifth of the list. That’s a powerful
illustration of how water and good health are inextricably linked.
In the spirit of these
life-saving water-utility pioneers, Avon Lake
Regional Water will be undertaking several projects this year to better
protect your health by improving the way we protect your water supply and your
lake.
First, we are working to
expand the amount of water we can access for you. We are doing this two ways.
One is a drinking water storage project that will provide five million gallons
of additional drinking water to have on hand for emergencies. The other is an
interconnection with a neighboring water system that will give each water
utility access to the other’s water in times of need. Expanding our emergency
water supply is an important safeguard. Not having water at your house for a
small amount of time may seem like a huge inconvenience, but just consider the
impact of a water outage on hospitals, fire hydrants, and those with medical
conditions requiring handwashing or sterilization. Continuous water is a
necessity for them. No one can predict the future, and this project will put us
in position to handle extreme water needs in a wide variety of scenarios.
Second, we are undertaking multiple
water line replacement projects this year. Replacing aging lines subject to
breakage means a more reliable water supply (we have to shut down water service
to your home during the process of repairing your water main). Moreover, one
water line project this year will restore the capacity of the water line, allowing
a much-improved flow for fire-fighting purposes.
Third, we will be starting a
rehabilitation project at our wastewater treatment plant. The rehabilitation
will both reduce the amount of water that bypasses our plant during wet-weather
conditions and improve the level of treatment of water flowing through the
plant. This, in turn, will improve the quality of water we discharge into Lake
Erie, therefore better protecting you when you want to enjoy the lake.
Finally, we have begun planning
the next combined sewer separation, which will be in the Fairfield-Brookfield
area, breaking ground in 2016. Once this project is completed (2017), the
quality of water in Heider Creek should improve, eventually helping to improve
water quality at Veterans Park Beach—Avon Lake's beach that typically has
higher bacteria counts after rain events.
As always, we are undertaking
these projects to better serve you and ask for your patience if you are ever
inconvenienced by them. We hope you agree a reliable water supply (including a
healthy lake) is worth investing in.
Avon Lake Regional Water is
your water and wastewater service provider. Questions/comments?
Contact us via phone (440-933-6226), email (contact@avonlakewater.org), social media (Facebook: /avonlakewater, Twitter @avonlakewater, and now Instagram), or
in person (201 Miller Road). You can also learn more by watching our
semi-monthly Board Recap show on ALC-TV’s government channel (Time Warner 12 or
WOW! 21) or logging on to avonlake.pegcentral.com to see recap shows or Board
meetings.
