Gravity-fed water will save village money

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By Dan King

An upgrade to Whitehall’s water plant is expected to save the village some money.
It’s been a long time coming, but the village water plant is now officially on gravity feed, something Mayor Ken Bartholomew and Trustee Pat Norton, the village’s water commissioner, are excited about.
“The sustaining valve is good now, after two years,” Norton said. “That will get us on gravity feed, which will save us money and water.”
Some residents in recent months have expressed concerns with the water level at the village’s reservoir on Pine Lake. The use of gravity feed, village officials said, will help save water.
“This was the intended primary operating procedure for the plant and the only reason that type of plant was selected in the first place,” Bartholomew said.
He said that the next bill will not represent the savings because it will only partially involve the use of gravity feed. However, the following month’s bill will give the village an accurate read on how much money the village is saving by using a gravity feed water system.
Bartholomew said the use of gravity feed will eliminate “most but not all use of electric pumps” at the plant.
“This is awesome and in my opinion one of your greatest money-savers,” said Trustee Walt Sandford, adding that he fellow credit was due to Bartholomew and his predecessor, Peter Telisky.
Representatives of Pall Corporation, the company that installed the computer system at the water plant, came to inspect the plant. Their observations led to more positive news for the village.
“The Pall representative had the main filter caps removed and inspected the membranes and also the lower manifold,” Bartholomew said. “The membrane’s condition surprised him as there was no scale at all and the manifold looked like it was new after eight years online. He was very impressed and stated that they would not need inspection again for several years.”
The benefit of using gravity feed for the village is that its water supply, in the town of Dresden, is at a higher elevation that the village itself.