Mena Water Addresses Several Topics at Meeting

BY MELANIE BUCK –

Mena Water Utilities held their monthly meeting Monday evening and discussed several topics including more water loss and a possible leak finder program.

Among those topics was discussion of a geotube to be placed at the water treatment plant pending approval from the Ark. Dept. of Health and Ark. Dept. of Environmental Quality. Mena Water Utilities Manager Charles Pitman explained the use of a geotube, “There are two parts that go down in sewer system, water and solids. The solids fill up the lagoons and to be able to treat water, you have to get the sludge out. When using a geotube, you pump the ponds into the geotubes and it allows the water to release and when what’s left dries, you’re left with fertilizer. The alternative is to put it in a tanker and dump it in pastures, wet. This method allows them to be more efficient with time and it’s easier to spread than the tanker trucks are.”

Also discussed was the new fixed based meter reading system, which is still in the process of being installed in the area. They are in the process of purchasing land in Nunley for a new collector communications box. The communications boxes read the meters in the nearby area and relay the information back to Mena Water.

The Commission approved the implementation of a leak finder reward program. Pitman said that Acorn Water already has the program and it shows to be effective. Through the program, Mena Water will give customers a bill credit of $20 if they report a leak on one of Mena water’s lines. “It’s worked really well for Acorn water and we are going to try to see if it will help with our water loss,” said Pitman.

The water leakage problem at Mena Water Utilities is continuing, however, some recent fixes on large leak areas are showing to help the situation. Pitman explained that a big problem with the issues is with the recent floods. The extra water makes the leaks are hard to spot. Also, he said, there is a big tank on the side of the hill by Ward Lake and a pipe that leads down to Missouri Avenue. The pipe runs near the original creek bed of Ward Creek. “That line was put in about 15 years ago and at that time, there was a new product made from plastic that was suppose to be great. It lasted about ten years and we started seeing breaks. It’s a 16 inch line and comes from a 2 million gallon water tank so when it breaks, it’s a significant leak.” A major leak was fixed in that area on Friday.

“Numbers wise, we will see what this fix did in August. What we are able to see now is how much less they are pumping out of the plant and we have seen a dramatic drop in the last week. We can tell by how much less we are producing.” Pitman said.

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Jeri Pearson

Jeri is the News Director for Pulse Multi-Media and Editor of The Polk County Pulse. She has 10 years of experience in community focused journalism and has won multiple press association awards.

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