On April 10, 2000, the Annual Meeting of the Membership was held with approximately 307 in attendance either by proxy or in person. Meeting activities included the election of three (3) directors. Joe Graves, from the Town of Bartonville; Scott Kilpatrick, from the Town of Copper Canyon; and Duane Johnson, from the unincorporated area, were all elected to serve three-year terms on the Board.

Larry Kaufman gave a presentation about water rates that included an explanation of how the Board sets the rates and a rate comparison of area water utilities and the factors that influence water rates.

Doug Holcomb, P.E., from the Texas Commission on Environmental Qualty addressed the drought and how it is affecting water resources and noted that BWSC has in place a Water Management and Drought Contingency Plan.

The Board and Staff would like to thank the Cross Roads Bible Church once again for their generosity for allowing the Corporation to conduct its annual meeting in their facility.

In the wake of wilting and dying landscapes, etc, we can understand that "to water or not to water" was not often an easy question to answer.

However, thanks to the support and genuine efforts made by a significant number of our customers to conserve water, BWSC was not forced to implement more restrictive mandatory water conservation measures. In fact, every other day watering was sufficient to see us through to the other side of the record 85 days without rain experienced in North Texas.

Please continue to follow the restrictions until the water conservation signs have been changed to Stage 1. Although we are out of the most dangerous period, we encourage everyone to continue to be conservative with water usage, now and throughout the year. If we impose restrictions on ourselves as a habit, we will all eventually learn to use water more conservatively.

Our goal is to keep you our customer well informed about this very important aspect of our operation and to notify you immediately of changes within our system. We encourage you to keep the enclosed updated Plan for quick reference. We also encourage you to become familiar with and observe a Plan sign location in your neighborhood area.

BWSC will continue to provide water-saving tips throughout the year as a reminder. We will also make an effort to provide information about landscaping tips that will help you use less water during the spring and summer months.

Again, thanks to you, it's working. BWSC will continue to monitor and report to you on the success of your efforts to conserve our most precious resource . . . WATER.

Do you have any idea how much water you use a day? Most people can tell you how much their water bill is, but could not tell you how much was used or what the "unit" price was. Compare that to buying gasoline. Most motorists know what they pay for gas and their usage is often influenced by the ups and downs of that price. While the price you pay for water does not typically vary to the degree that the price of gas does, water usage for the home should be a point of information monitored and can be useful in making water decisions.

Water, especially water in Texas, is a very precious commodity and must not be taken for granted. Beginning today, customers need to be aware of when, where, and how much water they are using and take responsibility for their actions. Every day homeowners, builders, and homebuyers go to great expense to install landscaping and irrigation systems and are unaware of how much water these "improvements" consume. These systems are most often programmed by the irrigator and never checked by the homeowner. What the homeowner doesn't realize is that they now have a water-guzzling monster installed in their yard and unmonitored, it can use thousands of gallons of water per day. YES, per day. In some cases, systems like this are consuming 100,000 to over 200,000 gallons of water per 30-day period for yard irrigation! Hard to believe? Believe it! It's true!

With the population of the metroplex growing, there will be a need for more and more water. At this time, population projections are outpacing future water supply reserves. Water like gasoline will no longer be cheap. Adjustments will have to be made. Xeriscaped yards or smaller landscaped yards requiring less water may become the norm just as the 4-cylinder car replaced the 8-cylinder gas- guzzler of the past. Something to think about!

Determining Usage

BWSC uses meters that are read like odometers and that record in gallons. There are six or seven digits on the meter face, including a stationary zero. Only the last six digits are utilized in calculating usage. In most cases, there is one circular dial on the meter face that represents one-gallon measurements. A complete revolution of the dial would indicate 10 gallons of water used. When a digit isn't exactly on a number, you will read the lowest number.

If you want to evaluate water usage for a specific purpose (i.e., irrigation), record the digits on the meter face prior to and immediately following running the system through a complete normal cycle. Running through a complete cycle is recommended to determine how many total gallons of water are consumed after all stations have run since consumption by station may vary depending on the number and type of sprinkler heads. After all stations have run and the cycle is complete, compute the gallons used. Multiply the number of gallons times the number of complete cycles the system runs per day. Multiply this number by the number of days the system is programmed to run to calculate the quantity of water used for a specific number of days. To conserve water, and possibly prevent an expensive water bill, it is recommended that you have your system thoroughly checked by a competent professional. Faulty irrigation heads, damaged piping, leaking connections, improper spray patterns, etc. not only waste water, but also perform poorly.

If you suspect that you have a service line leak, which would be on the customer side of the meter to the house, take a reading of the meter when you will not be using water for a 6 - 8 hour period. After the 6 - 8 hour period, take the reading again. The reading should remain the same if you did not use any water. If the reading is higher, this indicates that water is continuing to pass through the meter and going somewhere! This test may not detect problems with irrigation systems.

The Danger of Cross-Connections and Your Water System

What is a Cross-Connection? - Any connection that allows contaminants of any kind to enter your public (Bartonville Water Supply Corporation) drinking water system. Cross-connections come in many forms. A cross-connection caused by back sipohnage can occur by way of lawn sprinkler systems or any hose submerged in a bucket, pool, tub, livestock trough, etc. However, the private well or irrigation well is one of the most common cross-connections affecting public water systems. Homeowners generally do not equate the convenience and supplemental benefit associated with the inter-connection of the two systems as a threat to public health and a direct violation of state regulations.

However, private wells are not constructed with the same degree of sanitary protection used for public water supplies and are most likely never sampled for the presence of contaminants. In fact, many lawn irrigation wells are often times no more than very shallow holes in the ground that rely on surface water run-off and shallow supplies of ground water for sources of recharge.

Once pressurized, an irrigation system whose piping is inter-connected between the homeowner's household service line leading from the public water system's meter and a private well, is a cross-connection. According to section 290.46 (j)(3)(B) of the Texas Commission on Environmental Qualty rules and regulations for public water systems, such connections are prohibited. Such connections, if detected by the public water supply system, can result in the discontinuation of public water service until corrected.

Remember: No physical connection between the two sources is allowed. A gate valve or any other mechanical separation is unsatisfactory. Only a physical, air-gap separation is acceptable. An example of an acceptable air-gap device can be viewed at the office.

Bartonville Water Supply Corporation asks your assistance in eliminating all such situations. Please do your part. . .call the office with any questions.