When Crystal Falls Township entered into the rural development

contract to complete our water system improvements, grant

monies was available to any community that was willing to

accept the responsibility for protecting our well head areas and

the surrounding land within the well head protection area.

Crystal Falls Township applied for the grant monies which

required:

A 50 % match of township dollars

A commitment to complete a work plan, identify contaminant

source by researching, inventory and documenting all

contamination sites.

Develop a contingency Plan

Incorporate the area into the township master plan and

complete a well head ordinance.

Identify locations where a new well may be constructed when

the need arises.

Develop a public education awareness program.

Protecting our water resources from infiltration has been a major

concern for units of government for several years. Prompted by

the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, government

officials have been working on wellhead and groundwater

protection issues. Crystal Falls Township has been taking an

active role in trying to educate the community about the

importance of protecting the sources of our water supply.

Township Trustee Diane Kut along with Terry Alexa and the well

head committee have been working on the issue, and are here

to explain the importance of the effort.

Lortie Plumbing and Heating was awarded the bid for installation

of all residential and commercial water meters. The meters were

mandatory with the funding we received from Rural

Development. The meters that we purchased are SENSUS

meters and one of the reasons we went with SENSUS is because

our commercial accounts that were already metered starting

back in the 60’s mostly consisted of SENSUS meters and most

of these meters were compatible to the new read system. All

630 meters are radio read. A receiver is placed in the Public

works vehicle along with a laptop computer that runs the

software for the meter program. The receiver picks up a signal

transmitted by the white box or MXU that is located outside of

the home or business.

Signal range depends on the location but we have noticed that

we collect readings from about a 2 mile radius. After the Public

Works Superintendent drives the 100 and some mile route, he

downloads the information from the laptop to a USB flash drive.

The Utility Billing Clerk then enters the collected information

from the flash drive into her computer and everything is printed

out for usage and billing. The whole reading process from hook-

up of equipment in the vehicle to downloading the flash drive

takes 4.5 hours. Another interesting aspect that occurred with

the Water Project has to do with radio also. Both water systems,

the Lind and Townline were adapted to be controlled by radios

several years ago. During the project we upgraded the system

to do more than it used to. Each site (tanks, wells, valves etc.)

has a control panel with a 5 watt radio which is licensed through

the FCC. The water tanks send a signal to the well houses.

When the water level gets to a pacific low water set point, the

well turns on and fills the tank to the off set point. The master

control panel for the water system is located the Public Works

office where everything is monitored on a computer. We monitor

well pumps, tank water levels, aquifer levels, water usage and

water temperature for the Lind and Townline systems. We also

monitor the City of Crystal Falls water tank level, the Twp. /City

master valve and connection on Zavada Drive and a sewer lift

Everyone of us need to be informed of a potential source of

contamination whether its chemicals, wastes, or other

hazardous materials that are in our possession, stored, and

may leak, spill, or be applied to the land surface.

Areas where hazardous materials have been spilled or buried.

Some potential sources of contaminations are:

•

Aboveground and underground storage tanks

•

Landfills, lagoons, and septic systems

•

Places where hazardous materials are used or stored

•

Industrial & manufacturing facilities

•

over application of agricultural chemicals

•

active or abandoned wells

•

active or abandoned landfills

•

areas of known groundwater contamination

Some reminders to our residents:

•

never pour leftover hazardous products (such as used oil,

gasoline and paint thinner) onto the ground or road, or

into any stream, lake, river, floor drain, septic system or

street sewer.

•

Recycle used motor oil, transmission fluid, and antifreeze

•

Pay attention to floor drains in automotive work areas.

•

Report leaks and spill to each appropriate community.

In Crystal Falls, contact the Department of Public works at 906-

875-3290 or contact the Crystal Falls web site at

crystalfallstownship.org