Circuit Riders At Work
The Circuit Rider Program provides on-site training and technical assistance to rural and small-town water systems throughout the state of South Dakota. Our state is fortunate to have three Circuit Riders, one wastewater and two water. The Wastewater Technician covers the entire state. One water Circuit Rider serves the eastern half of the state and the other water Circuit Rider focuses on the western systems. In order to avoid overlapping of duties, we have established the Missouri River as an unofficial dividing line.
Smoke testing and sewer televising remains a significant portion of the requests for wastewater technical assistance. Evaluation of the amount of solids in lagoon systems has become a growing concern.
Although both water Circuit Riders share common goals, the types of water systems and typical problems encountered have some differences. Continuing education is extremely important for our Circuit Riders, to share what they learn with our water systems throughout the state. This past year, Nick Jackson and Sid Munson attended the Badger Water Meter Training Class and the Grundfos Technical Institute Groundwater Training Class.
The most common areas of assistance requested in western systems include: basic operation and maintenance of a small system, water treatment, compliance issues, long and short range plans, financial management, security and training. Many of the West River systems requesting assistance dealt with Safe Drinking Water Act compliance issues, this included Total Coliform Rule, Organic Chemical testing (SOC’s and VOC’s) Disinfectants and Disinfection By-Products Rule (DBP) and the Stage 2 DBPR, reporting and sampling, basic disinfection procedures and chlorine testing requirements, operator certification, and a few Arsenic and Radionuclide issues.
Operation and maintenance requests came in a close second to compliance assistance. These calls typically involved leak detection, locating lines, valves and curb-stops, source water (well) issues, stray voltage and water pressure problems. Another important service provided was offering assistance with water treatment techniques including chemical dosages, proper filtration rates, back washing procedures and the effects the weather has on system demands.
Also high on the priority list this fall were Vulnerability Assessments and Emergency Response Plans for water systems serving communities with a population less than 3300.
Financial management is a topic directly related to governing boards or what we like to refer to as the system decision makers. Helping people with loan applications, water rate studies, and just getting systems to develop a plan for the future are challenges being met. Many system meetings centered on providing information to individuals to help them pass certification exams. Smaller systems have difficulty attending two and three day training sessions and request on-site help.
The majority of East River systems requested and received assistance with finding water leaks that literally robbed the systems of millions of gallons of water and thousands of dollars in lost revenue.
On-site assistance also focused on conducting vulnerability assessments and completing emergency response plans for systems that have a Rural Development loan. Filter troubleshooting was also provided at several systems with each problem different than the previous one.
New operator training played an important role in last years work load with one-on-one training for systems unable to get away to area certification training sessions.
Several distribution problems were tackled, from low pressure and/or flow problems, to stray voltage, and nitrification. The Disinfection By-products Rule was very challenging to implement and Stage 2 DBP Rule will be just as difficult. Compliance with the Lead and Copper Rule was an issue for some systems that changed their source water. Additional compliance issues also were addressed from operator certification to radium removal to bacteriological sampling procedures.
The majority of water systems receiving technical assistance East River were municipalities, many who are served by rural water systems; West River systems requesting assistance included homeowner associations, state and federal installations, campgrounds and seasonal businesses. Broken down into East River and West River locations, South Dakota’s 671 public water systems are: 53% East River and 47% West River. East River has more municipalities and rural water systems but West River has more homeowner associations and close to 200 Transient Non-Community Systems (campgrounds, restaurants, etc.).
RateMaker Software
RateMaker Software is an important service your rural water association provides for systems is completing a water rate analysis. Utilizing the RateMaker software, with the needed system data, this program can create many options for systems looking at adjusting rates.
Small System Assistance
The average small system has a volunteer board of directors as well as an individual that volunteers to maintain the water system. Therefore, when these systems (<200 population) learn about the availability of our services, we get calls weekly for assistance.
For the most part, smaller systems rely on our association to provide some guidance and suggestions on how their system can operate more efficiently. With volunteers in charge, the amount of training attended is very limited as is the equipment available to properly operate the system. This is where we can make a difference.
Providing technical assistance in areas of leak detection and line tracing is a high percentage of calls. There is nothing simple about a small leak to these systems. Small leaks put everyone out of water.
Board Education
Another area that we focus on is board education. Systems that have their board well versed in water knowledge and finances are much better off. Each year our staff works many evenings with small system boards to help them adjust rates, look at funding options, or just provide them with the basic understanding of what it takes to properly operate a water system