On December 9
th I and two POA Board members, Morgan France and Paul Weiler met with representatives of the Garrett County Department of Public Works, Pat Hudnall, Administrative and Environmental Chief and Brian King, Assistant Division Chief Maintenance, to learn more about the Deep Creek Lake Sewer System. As you may recall, the
Deep Creek Lake Sewer System was initially built in the 1980's with the goal of assuring the continued health of Deep Creek Lake (DCL) by phasing out septic systems which have a tendency to fail and thus have an adverse impact on DCL. Given the age of the sewer system and some recent spills we thought it would be beneficial to our members to pass on information about system upgrades and maintenance.
Upgrades to individual grinder pumps and control/alarm boxes have been on-going for some time. These upgrades occur either when the maintenance crew is called to a location for an emergency or in accordance with a general preventive maintenance plan. At these times, in addition to making repairs as needed, grinder pump components are replaced to be up to current standards. The control box with the red light on it is upgraded with an LED light and an audible alarm. Also in the works is the option to interface the grinder pump alarm with your home security system. This is
not a Department of Public Utilities (DPU) option but rather a home owner's option. At the home owner's request DPU will install a relay in the control panel that will give the home owner a signal (open or closed contacts) which can be integrated into a home security system. This installation is done at the request of the home owner and is scheduled work, i.e. it is not part of the Preventive Maintenance Program. As such it is done under a billable work-order, charging time and material to the home owner. This feature will only activate in the event of a "high water" situation; not a grinder pump failure. The DPU will not be held accountable if the home security systems fails to notify the home owner in the event of a "red light" situation.
The main pump stations around the lake that move the sewage to the processing facility have been upgraded with backup systems that will operate during power failures or in the event of a pump failure. These pump stations-of which there are about 20 around the lake-are checked three times each week to assure continued trouble free operation.
The Department of Public Works has prepared a pamphlet for home owners and renters which gives valuable guidance about the sewer system. You can see the pamphlet
here.
We also reviewed a presentation by the Public Works Utilities Division which you may see
here.
