Alpaugh installs water system

$4.2m project, expected to take nine months, will improve delivery.

By Sarah Jimenez / The Fresno Bee

Alpaugh's water quality improved dramatically in January, when Well 10, above, the town's only working well, was declared safe. Water no longer needs to be boiled for cooking or drinking. Craig Kohlruss / The Fresno Bee E-mail This Article Printer-Friendly Format Receive the Daily Bulletin Subscribe to Print Join a Forum New:   Search News  | Search Local

ALPAUGH — After several years of water problems, Alpaugh residents have clean, drinkable water running from their faucets, and a $4.2 million project to improve the delivery system is scheduled to start next month.

But the project — funded primarily by a grant and loan — comes at a high cost to residents, who are mostly low-income and senior citizens.

The Alpaugh Joint Powers Authority is paying to install the main pipeline, which will run underneath roadways, but many residents must pay to put a system in front of their homes to hook up to that line.

The individual cost is estimated at $700 per connection.

For Elaine Smoley, who has lived in Alpaugh for 40 years, that means using one month of Social Security funds for the work.

"I imagine everyone's going to have to have a plumber," said the 71-year-old widow.

The project, which is expected to take about nine months, will increase overall water pressure. That, in turn, will improve delivery of safe water to the town's 700 residents and provide adequate water flow for fighting fires, organizers said.

"I feel for the people, but sometimes there has to be change," said Sandra Meraz, a board member with Alpaugh Joint Powers Authority.

Water quality improved dramatically in January, when Well 10, the town's only working well, was declared safe. Water no longer needs to be boiled for cooking or drinking. It doesn't have a yellowish tint. And it doesn't have traces of hydrogen sulfate, which carries a foul odor. "It always had a little bit of taste, but the smell was the worst part," Smoley said.

The new system will include a pipeline and a new well. Water pressure will improve, and bacteria problems will decrease, said Paul Boyer, a community development specialist with Self-Help Enterprises, which is helping with the project.

And firefighters will be able to use water from hydrants.

"They will actually be able to fight fires with the water system, which is a huge public-safety issue," Boyer said.

So much sediment has built up in hydrants, authorities fear hoses will burn out if they use the water now, he said. Crews have to bring in tanker trucks from neighboring areas such as Earlimart, about 12 miles from Alpaugh, to fight fires.

Although the project is necessary, it will be a hardship for many residents, Smoley said.

At least 100 home water systems will have to be upgraded to adapt to the new pipeline, said Katie Amos, a volunteer with Self-Help Enterprises through the AmeriCorps Vista program. For example, many residential water systems are in the back of houses and will have to be moved to the front to connect to the new main pipeline. About 330 connections will be made during the project.

Many will have to dig a ditch 1 to 2 feet deep and wide for pipes that will run from their house water hookup to the main line. And they'll need a permit for the work.

Self-Help is trying to relieve some of the cost to individuals, asking for donations for material costs and volunteers for the labor. AmeriCorps also is sending volunteers in June to help with the labor.

Project organizers hope to get individual lines in before the main line because once the main line is installed, residents will have only 25 days to connect to the main pipe, Amos said.

In addition, Porterville company Halopoff & Sons is putting in the main lines and has agreed to hook up individual lines if they're ready, Boyer said.

Alpaugh residents learned about their roles in the project Thursday during a community meeting.

"We've been waiting. We need water. We need clean, safe water," said Meraz, who has lived in Alpaugh for 45 years and has helped spearhead efforts to improve the town's water system.

The project has been in the works for more than six years, she said. The town started working with the U.S. Department of Agriculture for funding in January 1999, and a grant was awarded five years later.

Over the years, residents have dealt with the burnout of well motor pumps and contamination, causing the water lines to be shut off. Even when wells worked, residents could use the water only for bathing, laundry and toilets.

Many paid for water from the store or had it delivered for drinking and cooking.

And for more than a year, they had to take milk cartons and gallon containers to fill with water from a free tank in the town center, until that tank dried up and there was no more money to provide the water.

"Every day I wake up and pray we still have water in our faucets," Meraz said.

Even after the project is completed, arsenic level compliance will still be an issue for Alpaugh.

The well has an arsenic level that ranges from 14 to 26 parts per billion, which meets the federal standard of no more than 50 parts per billion.

But by January 2006, the federal government is changing its guidelines to just 10 parts per billion.

"We're not sure what's going to happen," Boyer said.

Organizers are focused on getting the new water system in first.

Elaine Smoley, who has lived in Alpaugh for 40 years, figures the estimated $700 cost of water system improvements will mean using one month of Social Security funds to pay for the work. "I imagine everyone's going to have to have a plumber," said the 71-year-old widow. The Alpaugh Joint Powers Authority is paying to install the main pipeline, but many residents must pay to put a system in front of their homes to hook up to that line. Craig Kohlruss / The Fresno Bee

Water system improvements in Alpaugh will include this new well. The changes will aid delivery of safe water to the town's 700 residents and provide adequate water for fighting fires. Craig Kohlruss / The Fresno Bee

The reporter can be reached at sjimenez @fresnobee.com or (559) 622-2413.