By Annette Newcomb/Editor
Embattled residents of Van Woods Estates continue to boil their water as the DNR and Public Utility Commission try to get the owners of a local water utility to take action and fix the ailing water works.
On Monday the results of three standard water tests taken at random locations in the subdivision came back with two tests showing coliform detection. There was no sign of E.coli in this round of testing.
Coliform is a large group of many different kinds of bacteria. While coliform lives in the ground it does not naturally occurred in groundwater and if found in a well, is an indication that disease-causing bacteria could also get into the water.
The failed tests are not a surprise. Currently the main well on Walnut Street is not working. Residents are relying on a smaller well on Sycamore Street, which was never meant to service the utility full time. It is a shallow well, pumping at the 500 foot level and is capable of only pumping 40 gallons a minute, compared to the minimum 120 gallons per minute the Walnut Street well should be producing.
Marianna Sucht, of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Water supply Specialist, said removing the coliform is simply a matter of “shocking” the water system with chlorination and retesting.
However, the owners of the Van Woods Estates Water Works, Matthew and Patricia Stahl of Woodstock and their son Chris, have refused to communicate with the DNR or anyone else.
“I have been unsuccessful in my attempts to communicate with the Van Woods water company/utility owners and sampler/operator.
“I have called the Stahls and the phone rings and rings and there is no answer and I am unable to leave a voice message.
“I sent the Stahls a fax this afternoon, and it did not go through, as it was not answered. I have left voice messages and sent e-mails to Christopher Stahl on Nov. 15 and Nov. 18 but have not heard back from him,” Sucht said, clearly frustrated.
About 40 Van Wood homes are reliant on the small water utility, one of only a few in the state. They are billed $36 per quarter plus a $3.79 per 1,0000 gallons. But water service is erratic. Residents have been on a boil order since Oct. 1.
The Stahls have a history of not keeping the water system in good repair, ignoring residents’ complaints and doing shoddy repairs and patch jobs.
Residents met with a panel of village and state officials two weeks ago to try to iron out the problem and found that it’s not a quick fix.
The DNR believes the Stahls are going to walk away from the water utility, leaving residents to fend for themselves. Residents have several expensive options: dig their own well, at a minimum cost of $10,000; form a co-op and take over the utility, also a high cost to residents who would have to make the repairs the Stahls have not; or possibly hook up to the Twin Lakes Park Homeowners Association wells, as mentioned by that homeowner association’s president Tom Porps during the Nov. 9 meeting.
During the Nov. 9 meeting the DNR said the Stahls have until Nov. 22 to repair the Walnut Street well and get it back into service; submit water samples for testing; have their chlorination system inspected on the Sycamore Street pump; address any new breaks in the lines immediately.
Sucht said Monday, “I will consult with my supervisor and the DNR Drinking Water Bureau in Madison to get directions on what to do now.”
In the meantime, as the holidays draw near, residents in Van Woods remain under a boil order.