[HollyMutual-Announce] System currently down

[Mark Derbyshire]

All:

Our attempts to isolate a small section of the main pipeline affected by
the leak have run into two problems:

1. Many more properties have been without water beyond the two
properties we expected

2. The leak has resumed leaking

We have been chasing #1 since this past weekend, and it appears the
southeast section of our main pipeline loop was altered many years ago
in some unknown fashion. This would have been done before Colorado Water
Well (CWW) took over maintenance, because their records show no
indication of what we've discovered. With the evidence we have for #2,
we're highly certain the isolation valve we closed on the south side of
Whitehall Dr. is the culprit. It is nearly 70 years old, and while we've
exercised it several times today, it appears incapable of fully sealing. 

CWW had no choice but to turn off the Piedmont Well to stop the leak, so
at the moment we are not providing water to any properties. The board
received an estimate yesterday for the leak repairs, and we are
considering that solution, which is a bit simpler than what we
originally expected. At the same time CWW is searching to determine if
we have any other isolation options, and in the worst case we will try
to sequence the repairs to gain partial system operation early on.

Cheers,

Mark