Water department reports high system loss, 41 leaks fixed and bore progress at Archie Creek

The council received a detailed water and sewer update from Superintendent Will Hinchie, who described elevated system losses, recent repairs and progress on an intake-bore project.

Hinchie reported chemical costs were "10 cents per thousand" for the month and said overall water loss for Clinton’s system is 36%; he broke that down by service area as Burnt Ridge 45%, Dinard 29% and B branch 38%. He credited crews with repairing 41 leaks in the last month.

On capital work, Hinchie said crews have advanced a bore at Archie Creek to about 140 ft and are averaging roughly 5 ft per day; they expect to reach around 170–200 ft to complete the bore without open excavation and are on schedule. He said a pump and motor have been ordered so the plant can return to three intakes once startup and testing are complete.

Hinchie described ongoing work to recommission filters and said the vendor Westech is scheduled to perform filter startup and instrumentation work in mid-June. He also said health-department inspections were recently completed and that staff will report inspection results when available.

Hinchie noted a specific leak at a local motel that his crew traced to a damaged copper service line and estimated high hourly leakage; he advised contractors to hold off on surface drainage work until the leak is confirmed and repaired.

Next steps: staff will complete the bore, receive and install the replacement pump and have Westech perform instrumented startup and filter testing when scheduled; inspection results will be shared with council.