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�You can see the bottom, 11 feet down� for the Mail Tribune / Andrew Kemp Pete Vorbeck, a Butte Falls public works employee, says the town�s new reservoir on Red Hill, on the left, will hold 500,000 gallons of water from Ginger Springs, the town�s drinking water source. With the older concrete reservoir behind Vorbeck holding 200,000 gallons, both should more than provide the town�s needs and handle future plans to produce bottled water. The clear spring puts out so much water that it can fill the new tank each day. By Melissa Martin Butte Falls turns focus to its sewer system Now that the town has a new water distribution system, Butte Falls is focusing on its sewer system. The town�s 24-year-old treatment plant takes in more wastewater than it was designed to treat. "There�s a lot of waste passing through the system because of deficiencies in the treatment process," said William Pavlich, project manager for HGE, the town�s engineering firm in Portland. While the population of Butte Falls has not grown, its wastewater flow has because of rain and groundwater entering the system. Besides capacity problems, the Butte Falls treatment plant is old, has no backup unit to run the plant when the primary unit is down for maintenance and has no backup power source. "Treatment facilities have a 20-year design life," Pavlich said. "Most run about 30 years before they are actually replaced. And there are a lot of Band-Aids supplied during that last 10 years." The engineering study, which calls for a $1.6 million overhaul, awaits approval by the state Department of Environmental Quality. The town will hold public hearings, search for grants and loans, seek voter approval and begin construction, possibly within three to five years. BUTTE FALLS � The town known for its pure, mountain-spring water has a new tank to store it. The 40-foot, steel giant perched on Red Hill holds 500,000 gallons � almost as much as the town�s spring source produces each day. "This amount of storage will more than adequately provide for all the town�s requirements, including fire protection," said Pete Vorbeck, a public works department employee. The green-gray cylinder is 50 feet in diameter and has a polished aluminum dome. It was manufactured in the United Kingdom and shipped in sections to Canada and then Oregon. The tank has a glass-fused, plastic coating, but on the inside it�s Crater Lake blue, Vorbeck said. The tank can be cleaned or repaired when full or empty, with entry points for divers. The dome�s reflective surface is designed to prevent the sun from heating the water, which is a chilly 50 degrees Fahrenheit. "This water is so crystal clear, you can see the bottom, 11 feet down," Vorbeck said, standing on the town�s older 200,000-gallon reservoir, which is still in use. "This is the cleanest water you�ll find anywhere on the planet," he said. The new reservoir will also aid Butte Falls� efforts to bottle and sell water. The town formed a nonprofit corporation to build a bottling plant on 3.3 acres donated by Superior Lumber Co. Since 1911, Butte Falls residents have been drinking water from Ginger Springs, a 560,000-gallon-a-day flow out of a mountainside a quarter-mile west of town. Neilson Research labs in Medford describes Ginger Springs as a "clean and beautiful" source. The town began adding chlorine only after federal rules in 1978 required it of all water systems. Butte Falls last year completed a $1.6 million overhaul of its aging distribution system, replacing pipes that were leaking about 70,000 gallons of water daily. The town got water meters for the first time, new fire hydrants, a flow meter and the new reservoir built by P.W. Berry Company Inc., of Portland. The project was funded from grants and loans, which are paid for with a $19.75 customer rate increase. At $60 a month, Butte Falls residents pay one of the highest water and sewer rates in Southern Oregon. Water bottling advocates hope profits from the sale of Ginger Springs water will help reduce rates. Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.