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David Cortez of Precision Electric Company tests a pump at Cave Creek Water Company’s pumping station along Cave Creek Road on June 15. The faulty 40‑hp motor, which was later replaced, can be seen on the right hanging from a crane.
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Carefree comes to Cave Creek’s rescue
by Brian DiTullio

DESERT FOOTHILLS – Cave Creek Water Company customers were without water for several hours last Thursday and Friday, and Carefree’s water utility was called on to augment the neighboring system.

Customers first began noticing problems right before noon on June 14, as water pressure dropped to very low levels and, in some cases, the flow stopped completely.

Carefree Vice Mayor Lloyd Meyer, one of the approximately 600 Carefree residents served by the Cave Creek system, said he noticed around 11:30 a.m. there was no water coming out of the tap and he began receiving phone calls from neighbors reporting the same problem.

One of his neighbors, Susan Vanik, said the water flow was “minimal,” but “better than nothing.”

Carefree Water Company manager Stan Francom told The Desert Advocate he had been alerted to the problem and began providing water to Cave Creek Water Co. at the rate of 400 gallons per minute.

“I may raise that to 500 or 600 gallons per minute,” said Francom. “We’ll see how it goes.”

The affected residents reported a more normal flow around 1:30 p.m. Thursday, but the problem flared up again Friday morning during peak usage.

Francom related that he was told the problem originated from a pump failure in the Cave Creek system.

“It was an electrical problem in the pump that brings the CAP water into the system,” he said. “When the water dried up, they had to shut the plant down.”

Jessica Marlow, utilities supervisor for Cave Creek, said one of the electric motors at a pumping station near the corner of Cave Creek and Jomax roads was responsible for the water shortages, due to a seal leaking water and causing the unit to fail.

A replacement motor was not available and had to be ordered from Tucson. It arrived and was put in place late Friday evening, according to Marlow. There were no further reported problems after the new motor was installed.

As a result of this incident, Cave Creek Mayor Vincent Francia said he would be meeting with Town Manager Usama Abujbarah and representatives from Arizona American Water, the operator of the Cave Creek system, to go over last week’s scenario, as well as several others that could result in a total loss of water pressure, to come up with contingency plans.

“If this happens again, we need to make sure there are backups,” said Francia, adding he was pleased Carefree offered help. “That was cool.”

Francom said providing assistance to Cave Creek Water Co. was no problem. “If they need assistance, we help them out the best we can.”

Francom added Carefree was providing as much water as it could, which isn’t enough to cover peak usage periods. “We need to get the message out to people in these situations to use less water,” he advised.

Meyer stated Carefree would do everything it could to help out Cave Creek, and praised Francom for responding so quickly.

“In a situation like this, you respond the best you can,” said the vice mayor.

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