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Expense forces change in frozen pipe policy

PORTAGE TOWNSHIP – The last two winters played havoc with below ground water pipes, and in Portage Township, the cost to thaw many of those pipes has caused a change in the township’s frozen pipes policy.

Bruce Petersen, Portage Township Supervisor, said the cost to pay for an electric arc welder to be used to thaw the frozen water pipes of village water customers plus paying the cost when customers let their water run to avoid freeze ups has depleted the township’s funds, which cover such costs. The winter of 2013-14 was especially difficult.

“We’re still kind of crawling out of that,” he said.

Much of the township’s water system was constructed using United States Department of Agriculture Rural Development funds, Petersen said, and that agency wants to know the township is going to be financially able to make payments on those loans. Because of the need to pay back those loans and the fact the township’s funds were depleted over the past two winters, changes were made in the township’s let-run and freeze/thaw policy.

On Nov. 9, Petersen said the board of trustees approved a resolution requiring homeowners to pay for the cost of letting water run to avoid water line freeze ups. The township, also, will no longer pay for the cost of thawing out frozen water pipes.

Petersen said until the new policy, the township would reimburse homeowners for the cost of thawing out frozen pipes.

“It was an expensive proposition,” he said.

Two years ago, Petersen said the ground froze as deep as 10 feet in some places causing many water service pipes to freeze.

“When you have a year when (freezing is) down 10 feet, you have problems,” he said.

The state of Michigan was reimbursing some communities for the cost of thawing frozen pipes two winters ago, but Portage Township didn’t fit the state’s criteria to receive funds.

“We didn’t get any reimbursement from the state at all,” he said.

Petersen said for three months, the township paid the cost over a normal water bill for residents who let their water run during the winter. The township also had to pay the cost of that water going to the Portage Lake Water and Sewage Authority treatment plant in Houghton.

Letting water run from one faucet in a residence with a pencil lead-thin stream of water will use about one gallon every eight minutes, which is about 180 gallons per day, and 5,600 gallons per month, Petersen said. At $5 per 1,000 gallons, that ends up being about $20 extra per month on a typical water bill.

“As a homeowner, it’s a small price to pay,” he said.

The cost to have pipes thawed out can range from $300 to $500, Petersen said, depending on what length of pipes are frozen.

Petersen said notices about the policy change will go into resident’s water bills.

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