There’s
water in them thar Desert Hills
by
Kathleen Stinson
DESERT
HILLS – Water flowed from shower heads and toilets could
be flushed Friday morning for the first time in about120
days by 200‑plus customers of the troubled Desert
Hills Water Company.
Trevor
Hill, president of Phoenix‑based Global Water Resources,
owner of Cave Creek Water Company, announced last week his
company would build a booster pumping station that would
solve the long‑running Desert Hills water outage problem.
Although Global has no legal obligation to help Desert Hills
Water customers, Hill has said he felt obligated “to protect
the health and safety” of those residents.
“I
took a beautiful shower this morning – I even slept in,”
said Rich Goldstein, a DHW customer. “It’s been 120 days
of inconvenience, at least.”
The
new booster station went operational at 4 p.m. on Thursday.
The company had an eight‑man crew working on the project
24‑hours a day for the past seven days, said Mike
Freid, project manager for Phoenix‑based Conestoga‑Rovers
& Associates who constructed the station. Such a station
would typically take about 30 days to complete, he said.
Global
Water spokesman Paul Walker said initial tests indicate
Cave Creek Water will now be able to send about 475,000
gallons of water a day to Desert Hills, compared to the
100,000 gallons a day it was providing prior to installation
of the booster station.
Walker
related that Cave Creek Water customers were experiencing
a drop in pressure in the morning hours when demand was
high and, when the pressure dropped, it caused a valve to
close which shut off water to Desert Hills. The new booster
station increases water pressure to those living in the
Foothills and keeps the valve open, he explained.
Goldstein
said that during the water outages, he had to get up two
hours early every day to get a shower before the water shut
off around 5 a.m.
“I
realized this morning I’ve given up 240 hours of sleep over
the summer because Mary Beth Rowland (vice president of
DHW) has absolutely no idea how to run her company,” Goldstein
said.
Desert
Hills Water Co. is currently under investigation by the
Arizona Corporation Commission for allegedly providing inadequate
water service and possible violation of state regulations.
Rowland
refused comment regarding the new booster station.
The
station, located on 38th Avenue north of Cloud Road, cost
about $40,000, Walker said. On June 20, Global sent a letter
to Rowland offering to build the booster station and asking
DHW for $20,000 to help defray the cost. According to Walker,
Rowland never responded and has not offered to pay for the
station.
Asked
why Global built the station, Walker said, “Utility companies
in Arizona are granted monopoly status by the ACC, so in
our minds there is a trade‑off for that privilege–you
have to look out for the public interest and help whenever
you can.”
Corporation
Commissioner William Mundell was on site for the opening
of the Global/Cave Creek Water booster station.
