Water Usage Dispute Between Pittsfield and Dalton
DALTON, Mass. — The Fire District has received a certified letter from the city of Pittsfield claiming that it has consistently been using more than the 46 million gallons of water per month allotted to the town.
The city is claiming that the district is using 66 million gallons of water per month, Water Superintendent Bob Benlien told the Board of Water Commissioners on Tuesday.
In the past, Benlien has been dealing with Pittsfield's Cleveland treatment plant operators regarding this and he has checked all the district meters at the pump stations and had them calibrated, he said.
There is a possibility that the city has multiple leaks in its water main or that there are other customers connected to the same water main, Benlien said.
He asked Pittsfield if its meters at both Cleveland and the flow control station were calibrated and certified and if they took into effect Covanta, the government mill and the other connections.
"So, they're showing these large flows, but the production at Crane & Co. is down from what it used to be. Usage in town on the pump stations isn't any more than it used to be. I am thinking that it is a problem on their side and I've been telling them that, but I don't think they've addressed it well enough to where they can put that on to us yet," Benlien said.
"So, I'm going to do everything in my power to get a 100 percent accurate water usage from all the endpoints from their system, and I'll calculate it out and that should be all set once that comes in."
There are meters at all three pump stations and direct connections at Crane, two at the Wahconah Mill and two at the Byron Weston Mill.
Benlien is currently in the process of getting pricing on the installation of new ultrasonic meters for the Wahconah and Byron Weston mills.
Once these meters are replaced and calibrated it will show the district is not using over 46 million gallons of water per month, he assured the board.
In other news:
• The Water Department repaired and regraded Reservoir Road and trimmed back the bushes that were beginning to grow onto the road. Both of the town dams also have been weed whacked.
• The department cleared downed trees and mowed the back road to Windsor Dam. The water levels of the dam were monitored during the recent rainstorm.
• The district approved rolling over 40 hours of vacation for the department that was not used last year.
• The department responded to a 40 Dig Safe request.
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