Murray highway employees have significantly reduced water losses

Editor:

During this election season, there have been those who have used the Town of Murray water loss as a campaign issue.

I would like to set the record straight. Over the past couple of years, our water loss has gradually increased, despite continuous efforts to find the problem. At the beginning of this year, our loss was up to 48%.

The Water Superintendent and employees continued searching for the problem by shutting off valves and listening to services and hydrants. A leaking hydrant was repaired and the loss was lowered to 37.35% at the end of June. Another hydrant repair brought the loss to 31.92% at the end of July.

While listening to curb valves, they found a leak on Ridge Road. On September 10th, they repaired that leak, where they found a huge hole in a pipe that ran under Ridge Road. No water had ever shown at the surface. While the readings we took on September 28th showed an improvement to 29.93% loss, the full impact of that repair would show at the next reading. On October 15th, we took another reading and I am happy to document that our loss is now down to 15.5%.

Neither Dirk Lammes or Jimmy DeFilipps have a Water Operator’s License. Whomever wins the election for Highway Superintendent will work under our Interim Water Superintendent Dennis Mandigo’s water license, per NYS Department of Health regulations. We are lucky to have Dennis Mandigo’s expertise and 20 years of experience working on our water lines with our past superintendent, Ed Morgan.

Our two newest employees have completed their Water Operator’s course at Morrisville College and will be able to apply for their licenses in February and May of 2021. I am beyond proud of our employees. They are the unsung heroes of the Town of Murray, coming to work every day to keep working on the water issues, despite unfair and unwarranted criticism.

The Town of Murray Water Department has corrected the major water loss issue.  We will continue searching for water leaks and any other issues as they arise. We do not need “fixing” – we just need a leader for this great team.

Louise Passarell

Interim Town of Murray Highway Superintendent