Water district filter reboot near finish, bracing for thaw
Monitor Staff Reports
GUN BARREL CITY–Jan. 28, East Cedar Creek Fresh Water Supply District employees completed the installation of the filter media for both filters at the Brookshire Water Treatment Plant.
The installation marked the near-completion of a years-long process to maintain and eventually upgrade the plant’s capacity – but the near-term concern is the long stretch of sub-freezing temperatures that have gripped the Cedar Creek Lake area (and much of the country) this week.
Crocker Crane Company was on site to assist in transporting the two-ton super sacks of filter media from the ground to the filter tanks.
Under the supervision of the district’s engineering firm, KSA, employees applied the certified gravel, sand and anthracite to the desired depths as required by Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.
The total amount of media material for the project was 56 tons at a cost of $18,000.
General manager Bill Goheen said Wednesday the district saved more than $10,000 by doing the project in-house.
“Getting these two filters refurbished was one of the phases we planned to maintain the plant’s capacity at 3.5 million gallons per day (mg/d) and prepare the plant for upgrading to 4 million gallons per day,” Goheen explained.
“Once we got the (two) new ones (filters) built (back in 2006), we could take the old ones off-line and start building up funding to refurbish them,” he said. “We used funding from our operating reserves and the MUE (meter unit equivalent) fees the board adopted a couple of years ago.”
Because the two new filters enabled the plant to remain at its rated capacity, the district was able to take its time to get the funding together and avoid having to go into debt – by using bonds, for example – to complete the project, Goheen explained.
Another upgrade at the Brookshire Water Treatment Plant will be the installation of electronic valve actuators. Once this project is completed, the water plant operators will be able to operate the old refurbished filters the same as the two new filters.
Goheen said all the new valves and actuators are in place, and the district just needs to have the contracting electrical company, Boothe Electric, wire in all the electrical control valves to the control panels, which were installed by district employees.
Also, the District’s SCADA programming firm, Cohesive, will need to program the additional operational tasks and safety alarms into the computer, along with the off duty call-out module for responding to any process control problems.
Barring any weather difficulties, the entire process should be completed within the next 30 days or so, Goheen said.
“We’ve had some freeze-ups, but our main concern are the rotating blackouts (when electricity is shut off by power providers),” he said. “We’ve had to time those right to make sure we keep water in our towers.”
When blackouts are in place, the pumps to fill the towers don’t work, and that is a major concern in case of a structure fire, he pointed out.
“We haven’t had any problems at the (Brookshire) plant,” Goheen said. “We had a minor freeze-up that led to an overflow at one of the towers this morning, but we were able to take care of that pretty quickly.”
When temperatures are this cold (down into the low teens early Wednesday) for this long – sub-freezing temperatures were forecast to last through Friday morning – there’s always the danger of pipes breaking, because water expands when it freezes.
One way homeowners can avoid a pipe problem is to keep a faucet dripping overnight to keep water moving through the pipes, something the ECCFWSD does as well, Goheen said.
“We had a flush hydrant open to keep water flowing in our small lines,” he said. “It’s better to pay a few dollars for an extra 1,000 gallons at the end of the month than to pay for a major water line repair under the house.”
Goheen said the district was getting ready to respond, if breaks appear once the temperatures get above freezing.
“We’ll be assessing things Friday and Saturday, and we’re checking our (parts) inventory now to make sure we have everything we need,” he said.

PSVFD slates cycle giveaway
Special to The Monitor
PAYNE SPRINGS–A drawing for a 2007 Harley Davidson FX/ST 96 CI motorcycle, will be held 6 p.m. Saturday, April 9, at the Payne Springs Fire Station at 9674 St. Hwy. 198 in Payne Springs during the annual fish fry.
The motorcycle is fuel injected with a 6-speed transmission, and has less than 1,400 miles on it. It is in showroom condition.
Only 2,000 tickets will be sold. Tickets can be obtained by contacting any member of the department.
Tickets can be obtained and view pictures from our website at www.psfirerescue.com or call (903) 451-4511 and leave a message.
All proceeds will go to the Payne Springs Fire Rescue.

Black Tie Ball raises record amount
Special to The Monitor
KAUFMAN–The 2010 Black Tie Ball benefitting Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Kaufman raised more than $75,000.
In the event’s third year, the annual gala has raised more than $150, 000 to support women’s and children’s services in Kaufman County.
“It’s one of the most rewarding things I’ve ever been a part of,” said Carl Stapp, chair of the 2010 planning committee and member of the Texas Health Kaufman Board of Trustees.
“To know that the people of Kaufman are so willing to step up and support this good cause is really humbling. It shows the kind of strong community we have and the generous people who live here,” Stapp finished.
Proceeds from the 2010 gala, held Nov. 13 at the Adolphus Hotel in Dallas, will support prenatal care for low-income and uninsured women in the local area.
The goal is to help women have healthy pregnancies and diagnose complications before they cause serious problems for their babies.
The event attracted more than 300 partygoers and featured a seated dinner, diamond raffle, live auction and dancing.
Planning for the 2011 Black Tie Ball has begun, with organizers expecting things to be bigger and better than ever.
“Having so much success only drives us to improve and make it even more enjoyable for everyone,” said Patsy Youngs, president of Texas Health Kaufman. “The past few years are a hard act to follow, but we plan to more than meet those expectations.”