Document text
Medford offers a toast to its spring water Water Commission open house celebrates 75 years of service to residents By MELISSA MARTIN Mail Tribune "A Mountain Spring in Every Home." That was the city's promise to its 10,000 residents when voters in 1926 approved a $975,000 bond to build a 30-mile pipeline to bring clean spring water to Medford. The Medford Water Commission will celebrate 75 years of providing spring water to local taps with an open house from 2-4 p.m. Friday at the Medford Water Commission office. The office is in the Lausmann Annex, 200 S. Ivy St., behind City Hall. There will be a display of photos from the 1920s showing the building of the pipeline from Big Butte Springs, the city's underground supply near Butte Falls, in the shadow of Mount McLoughlin. Crews dug a trench over 75 summits to lay the 24-inch diameter pipe that would carry clean water to Medford homes and businesses. "It took a huge commitment on the part of Medford's early residents to develop the Big Butte Springs supply that we enjoy today," said Laura Hodnett, spokeswoman for the Medford Water Commission. Before the spring supply, Medford residents in 1902 drank Bear Creek water pumped to a downtown storage tank. By 1908, the growing city was getting its water from Fish Lake, 22 miles away. "The water developed a woody taste and sometimes was dark and full of algae," said Clara Foster, a fictional character in a movie produced by Rogue Valley Community Television for Medford Water Commission. "Then one day, I turned on the faucet and out came a pollywog. Soon after that, the State Board of Health declared our water not safe for drinking." The 14-minute video will be shown during Friday's open house. And Medford Water Commission employees and board members will be on hand to answer questions about the spring supply that's flowed without interruption for 75 years. "The Big Butte Springs water is extremely high quality, requiring no treatment besides disinfection," Hodnett said. "This coupled with the fact that the spring's water flows to town entirely under the force of gravity enables us to provide it to our customers at charges that are among the lowest in the nation." Today, Medford Water Commission serves about 100,000 people in Medford, Central Point, Eagle Point, Jacksonville, Phoenix, Talent and White City. In 1954, Medford filed for water rights from the Rogue River and built the Robert A. Duff Water Treatment Plant in 1968. The city expanded the plant in 1983 and 1999 and added advanced treatments this year. In the summer when demand is highest, treated river water supplements the year-round spring supply. Reach reporter Melissa Martin at 776-4497, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.