Ottawa County Rural Water District Number 5

PROJECT PURPOSE

Rural Water District 5 is located in a part of Ottawa County known to have high levels of lead and zinc in groundwater and provides clean drinking water to 450 households nearly 40% of which are Native American. The district has a monthly water loss percentage of 75 to 80% due to very old infrastructure that was installed incorrectly 45 years ago. This dramatic water loss severely threatens the district's ability to provide a reliable source of drinking water to many low-income residents and during periods of high water usage it is common for homes in certain parts of the district to run completely out of water. The lack of adequate water volume is also preventing the district from accommodating an Environmental Protection Agency project to extend water lines into a high-lead part of the county not currently served by a rural water system. District leadership has developed short and long-range plans to 1) reduce the water loss as soon as possible, and 2) replace the infrastructure identified as nonrepairable. As the district's only source of income is selling water through 450 meters and the amount of money required to rehabilitate the system is quite large, the district is seeking a source of financial assistance.

EVIDENCE

As a large percentage of the district's user population is Native American, the Oklahoma City Area Indian Health Service Office of Environmental Health Construction Branch has provided an engineer to thoroughly evaluate the system and to develop the remediation plan. Also, the Oklahoma Rural Water Association Leak Detection Specialists have assessed our system and indicated where the shut-off valves and meters need to be placed to enable them to locate and assess the magnitude of leaks.

POPULATION DESCRIPTION

Access to a reliable, adequate supply of clean water for drinking, cooking, bathing and hand washing are critical to maintaining a healthy immune system capable of protecting against Covid infection and responding maximally to the vaccines and boosters is critical. The district serves a large community of Native Americans and elderly people who are especially vulnerable to infection. The district's dramatic water loss problem is jeopardizing its ability to continue to reliably supply clean water to this vulnerable population.

PERFORMANCE MEASURING

Water loss percentage. The district pumps an average of 8,000,000 gallons of water out of the Roubideaux Aquifer, treats it, and loses 6,000,000 gallons through the aged, badly leaking infrastructure. The ground here is very rocky and only bad leaks show up on the surface. The short-range plan involves installing pressure reducing valves above low-lying areas to reduce pipe gasket leakage and to install shut-off valves and meters throughout the system to identify lines that are leaking and to quantify the leakage in each line, enabling prioritization of line replacement.

ONGOING INVESTMENT AMOUNT

$

ONGOING INVESTMENT DESCRIPTION

None

ONGOING INVESTMENT REQUIRED

Able to continue operation without additional funding from the State of Oklahoma