20160513Comments (2 Total).pdf

Jean Jewell
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geoncarol @ road ru n ner.com
Thursday, May 12,20L67:07 PM
Beverly Barker; Jean Jewell; Gene Fadness
Case Comment Form: carol abelhanz
Name: carol abelhanz
Case Number: DIA-W-15-01
Email: [e-mail]
Te le pho ne : 208-7 62-3346
Address: 1814 w diamond bar rd
rathdrum idaho,83858
Name of Utility Company: Diamond Bar Estates Water Co.
Comment: ldaho Public Utilities Commission Case #DlA-W-15-01
I have some questions regarding the two wells that provide water service to both Diamond Bar Estates and Boekel
Estates homes.
With the backup well being out side of Diamond Bar Estates and located on a private household land is the water that is
provided to that home or does it have another totally separate well?
lf the household is supplied by the backup well is the water usage billed at the rate as Diamond Bar Estates and Boekel
Estates?
Are wages, supplies, insurance, etc. divided by how many businesses the Turnipseeds own?
How many fulltime and part time employees are there dedicated to Diamond Bar Estates Water Company?
Why do they use 2 people to read the meters?
The meters are in groups of two therefore only 21 stops are necessary in Diamond Bar Estates and 2-3 stops in Boekel
Estates. ls the labor cost calculated by total time of reading meters or by cost per meter?
We have lived in Diamond Bar Estates almost 21 years and during this time have experienced 4 to 5 pumps being
replaced in addition to other outages. What is the estimated life expectancy of a water well pump that provides
adequate water pressure for the potential of 50 plus households some of which use the 2 inch irrigation connection?
ln regards to the latest pump replacement it has been speculated that this was due to a power surge in the electrical
service. Other times the pump house had been struck by lightning. What precautions has Diamond Bar Estates Water
Company taken, if any in order to prevent these types of outages from occurring? Such as ground fault surge protection
and/or installment of lightning rods.
Mr.Turnipseed had indicated the power for both wells are separate. Are we charged for the power on the backup well if
we are not using it?
With the proposed rate increase some homeowners could see their water bill during the peak months of May to end of
Sept at SZOO to $+OO per month. Our water bills for 1 year could be higher than our Avista bill.
The new rate could be detrimental for sellers and a deal breaker for buyers.
I would like to see the actual dates the meters are read on our monthly bill.
Unique ldentifier: 7 6.17 8.L7 .7 I
Diamond Bar Estates Homeowners Association
1952 W. Diamond Bar Rd.
Rathdrum, lD 83858
May L2,2OL6
ldaho Public Utilities Commission
P.O. Box 83720
472W. Washington Boise, lD 83702
Boise, lD 8372O-OO74
[phone]
Subject:Water Case No. DIA-W-15-01
Water Rates Committee Response #2
As a homeowner in Diamond Bar Estates since May of 1998 and at the request of the cuffent HOA
board of directors, I am commentiog on the historical aspect of this water system which I believe
direcdy relates to the current case befote the Idaho PUC.
My focus is to look at this system from a historical perspective and whether it has been operated
prudendy with regard to the initial install and subsequent pump failures and repeated pump
replacements.
KNOWN ELECTRICAL PROBLEMS
Request 11 in Case No. DIA-\7-15-01 Tided "REPLYTO SECOND PRODUCTION REQUEST
OF COMMISSION STAFF, DBWC, says,
"Ftom 2002 forwad Diamond Bar Estates has been at the rcceiuing end of inconsistent,
unbalanced as well as undetpoweted setuice from Kootenai Electric Co-opt'.
There doesn't apper to be anything in the record, or prior rate cases for DBWC that explain why
this has not been addressed. This seems to point to the direct cause of repeated pump failures over
the years. Late in 2075,a I(ootenai Electric Co-op General Manager visited the pump site and
apparendy agreed to "flx" the power issue....some 13 years after.
The AEI engineering report (abeled "exhibit 19" and dated9/23/2015 seems to point to several
electrical problems at the pump site all of which could be the direct and substantial cause of
repeated pump failures. Especially in the area of soft-stating motors above 20HP per the electric
company's requirements as well as other protection measures.
While there is no apparent original engineering report from when the developer (Mr. Turnipseed)
first put the water system in operation, there are also no recotds of the substandard power to the
pump site being addressed until the 2015 visit by the Kootenai Electric Co-op General Manager.
May 12,2016
Page 2
PUMP SIZING, CHANGES aNd FAILURES
Request 11 in Case No. DIA-W-15-01 Tided "REPLY TO SECOND PRODUCTION REQUEST
OF COMMISSION STAFF, exhibit 6 (quote from "H20 Well Service,Inc",
The quote fot the original pump and associated equipmentinT994 shows that this company
recommended a 25 HP pump and that a 50 HP pump u...Would be excessive..."
The initial pump installed in1994 by H20 Well Service,Inc. was a 50 HP pump even though this
company had recommended a25 HP pump would be more than adequate based on the 50, 000
gallon reservoir size.
In August of 2002, the pump failed and is replaced with another 50 HP pump (covered by
insurance).
h2004 it is replaced again (no failure shown on well pump record, exhibit 11d). The replacement
pump is a 60 HP pump with no supporting documentation as to the reason for the increase. No
appareflt engineering opinion or vendor quote as to a reason.
o The increase in pump size would put a further strain on an already acknowledged power
problem at the pump site. It seems reasonable to assume that this could cause premature
pump failures.
o Subsequent pump failures where the pump motor was sent back to the manufacturer for
warranty claims were rejected because there was no issue with a defect and the proximate
cause of the failure was the electrical supply.
Refer to Exhibit 11, No. DIA-W-15-01 Tided "REPLY TO FIRST PRODUCTION
REQUEST OF COMMISSION STAFF, DBWC
o Franklin Electric warranty evaluation sunmary "...Failute modes in the bottom end
fittns are generally associated with eithet excessive sutge or unbalanced
power.....This failurc is not the rcsult of matetial ot wotkmanship..."
SUMMARY
Up until the recent pump failure in 2015, Diamond Bar Water apparendy had insurance to cover
pump failures. It seems that the multiple failures and insurance claims over the years finally made the
insurance apparendy not available to DBWC. I feel that this is also a substantial reason for the
excessive rate increase request.
I believe that the lack of addressing the substandard power to the pump site from the start of the
water systemis the direct cause of repeated pump failures and excessive maintenance costs over the
years.
May 12,2016
Page 3
The added fact that ai ^ppmeflt oversized pump was installed initially and subsequendy "upgraded"
to an even larget horsepower pump further exacetbated the problems and failures. Nowhere along
this ptocess was the electrical supply, protection and associated equipment properly addressed.
I believe that after years of neglecting to ptoperly determine the cause of repeated pump failures that
the DBWC should not be allowed to fotce an unptecedented 8070 increase in rates on the customer
base to cover the lack of properly installing and maintaining a'watef system.
Diamond Bar Estates Homeowners Association
Water Rates Committee
Eric Hallgren, Committee Member
Darrel Ramus, Director
Mike Tillery, Director
Glenn Fetter, Director