MOUNT VERNON — Three Knox County communities will receive state money to help pay for water system equipment needed to maintain their distribution systems.
Danville, Gambier, and Mount Vernon each received $10,000 through a H2Ohio grant, the maximum amount for which communities could apply.
Director of Public Utilities Aaron Reinhart said the City of Mount Vernon applied for money to buy locating equipment.
“The Ditch Witch units will be used to locate main line water and sewer utilities,” he said. “The Schonstedt units are used to locate shut offs, meter pits, and main line valves.”
The Ditch Witch units increase crews’ efficiency and accuracy through state-of-the-art features such as Bluetooth technology for faster data transfer and Ambient Interference Measurement (AIM).
AIM identifies active interference sources such as cable TV, dog fences, or electrical-based irrigation systems.
“This grant enables us to purchase this equipment now,” Reinhart said. “If we didn’t receive the grant, we would wait until next year and work the cost into the budget.”
Danville Village Administrator Freedom Deisch said the village will use the money to purchase a line locator, metal detector, and electrical meter.
“We would not have bought the equipment without the money, so the awarded money does help the village with the cost to purchase the equipment,” he told Knox Pages.
Gambier plans to buy mobile leak-detection equipment.
“The equipment costs about $12,000, so we will have to use some local water fund money to cover the entire cost of the purchase. We are grateful Ohio EPA has awarded us the money to pay for this equipment,” said R.C. Wise, Gambier village administrator.
“Most of our distribution lines are PVC (plastic), so the acoustic devices being used are not as effective in discovering leaks in plastic as they are in ductile iron, for example.”
More than just leaks
Wise said leak-detecting companies the village has hired have had some success in finding leaks in Gambier’s system.
Additionally, he said, “Residents are quick to let us know if they see standing water anywhere when it hasn’t rained for a while. Those eyes and ears have helped uncover areas that turned out to be a leak in a service or distribution line.”
However, leaks are only one reason distribution systems lose water and thus revenue. Other reasons include unauthorized consumption and metering inaccuracies.
“All systems have some water they can’t account for, typically in the 15 to 30 percent range,” Wise explained. “Ours has been higher than that average, and we have adopted a multi-prong approach to reducing that percentage.”
Gambier’s strategies include:
•Metering village-owned facilities so the village knows how much water the parks, Community Center, and wastewater plant use
•Collaborating with the fire department to estimate the amount of water loss when the department tests hydrants
•Installing bulk water meters to bill contractors for water used in a construction or highway project
•Ensuring meters are registering and billing correctly
Moving forward, Wise said the village is looking at purchasing a data-logging device that listens for 24 hours straight at various points in the distribution system.
“[The device will] determine not only if there is continuous usage, but also how far away from the hydrant the leak may be so we aren’t digging up an entire street on the search for a possible leak,” he explained.
“As soon as we get the signed grant papers back from the EPA, we will look at buying the most proven technology in finding leaks in a distribution system that has a lot of plastic lines.”
About H2Ohio water system equipment grants
2024 is the second year the state has awarded H2Ohio Public Water System Equipment Grants. In 2023, more than 100 communities received $1 million.
H2Ohio is Gov. Mike DeWine’s statewide water quality initiative to address complex issues affecting Ohio’s waters.
Launched in 2019, H2Ohio works to reduce algal blooms, stop pollution, and improve access to clean drinking water.
The approach supports best farming practices, road salt runoff reduction, litter cleanup, dam removal, land conservation, and water infrastructure revitalization.
For more information, visit h2.ohio.gov.
