Chesterton Utility Service Board Member Scot McCord is issuing his annual warning to new customers of the Utility.

If you have recently moved to the Town of Chesterton, have not resided here since mid-February, and expect to fill a swimming pool or water a newly seeded lawn this summer, be prepared “to pay the piper” when you get your summer sanitary sewer bill in the fall.

As McCord noted at Monday’s meeting of the Service Board, residents who have an established rate--that is, who paid for sanitary sewer service this year in the billing period extending from mid-February through mid-April--get a break in the billing period extending from mid-June through mid-August. Under a policy established by the Service Board, they pay the lesser of two amounts: a rate based on their actual consumption in the summer billing period, or a rate based on their prior consumption in the winter billing period.

But new residents who have no established rate will have to pay the full summer rate, and it could be high if they use a lot of water for recreation, landscaping, or gardening. That’s because the Utility bills its customers on their consumption of water, as calculated by Indiana-American Water Company (IAWC).

Because that consumption typically increases in the summer, however, and much of the water used does not actually enter the sanitary sewer system and is not accordingly treated, the Utility gives its established customers a break.

Residents without an established rate do have one option, though. They may arrange with IAWC to have a second meter installed to measure their outdoor water consumption.

In other business, members contemplated a scary trend. In April the wastewater treatment plant used fully 80.54 percent of its capacity, after it had used 81.74 percent of its capacity in March and 74.52 percent in February. As President Larry Brandt observed, when a wastewater treatment plant edges upward into the 80-percent capacity range, it’s time--according to the Indiana Department of Environmental Management--to begin thinking about expansion.

In fact, the heavy flows at that plant do not reflect genuine increases in the amount of wastewater treated but rather the tremendously heavy rains this winter--often on top of rapid snow melt--and the infiltration of that water into the sanitary sewer system.

Consider. In January a total of 1.86 inches of rain were recorded at the plant, which that month used only 55.46 percent of its capacity. But in February 4.29 inches were recorded; usage jumped to 74.52 percent. The same story in March, with 4.60 inches and 81.74 percent usage; and in April, with 5.14 inches and 80.54 percent usage.

As Member Andy Michel observed, once some of the inflow and infiltration issues are resolved, capacity will drop again. It will also drop once the heavens stop opening up on such a regular basis. Town Council Member and Utility liaison Sharon Darnell, D-4th, remarked that the rainfalls this winter and spring set all-time records.

One apparent source of infiltration, as the Service Board has discussed at prior meetings, is the Indian Boundary Conservancy District (IBCD), which in April used 102.49 percent of its 81,000 gallon per day (gpd) allotment of the wastewater treatment plant; 103.96 percent of it in March; and a whopping 113.37 percent in February. The IBCD has retained the services of an engineer to study the problem, and Brandt said that a recent meeting with IBCD officials was “excellent.” Brandt further expressed his confidence that the IBCD will resolve the issue of infiltration.

In April the wastewater treatment plant bypassed a total of 394,990 gallons of untreated and partially treated sewage into the Little Calumet River during heavy rain events. And, Interim Superintendent Mark O’Dell said, it bypassed for around 45 minutes on May 14 during a heavy rain event that day.

O’Dell did say that the replacement of one pump at the Dickinson Road lift station--through which flows virtually all wastewater generated in Chesterton east of Ind. 49, including that generated by the IBCD--as well as the cleaning of the other pump has greatly increased the efficiency of that lift station, to the point where it has not recently needed to be manually down-pumped by a collections team during rain events.

The Dickinson Road lift station is slated to be upgraded this year, at the expense of the Lake Erie Land Company (LEL), which O’Dell said did get a spot of bad news after going out to bid for the project. The estimated cost of the upgrade, according to LEL’s engineers: $1.4 million. The bid range: $2.5 million to $2.8 million.

O’Dell said that LEL is now looking at ways--including using different piping--to bring the cost under $2 million.

Earlier in the meeting O’Dell told the Service Board that he’s found ways to save a bit of money for the Utility. By eliminating most of the 10 pagers at the plant O’Dell has saved $250 per month, and by eliminating seven of the cell phones used by employees he’s saved at least $300 per month.

O’Dell emphasized that there was no issue at all of abuse of the pagers or phones. “It was just a financial decision,” he said.

Aside of the IBCD’s usage figures, in April Chesterton used 79.63 percent of its 3,794,000 gpd allotment of the wastewater treatment plant and Porter $75.46 percent of its 767,000 gpd allotment. Last month the Utility ran a loss of $212,275 and in the year-to-date is running a loss of $289,942.