It’s been four years since Duncannon began to notice that it was losing water from its system at above normal rates, but for all its efforts, the losses are higher than they were – even after multiple repair projects.
The borough seems to be farther away from solving its water-loss mystery, and facing increasing pressure from regulatory agencies, according to officials at the council meeting on Feb. 16. That’s straining some relationships around the problem, too.
“Why aren’t the numbers closer together, rather than spreading apart?” council President Jeff Kirkhoff said.
The borough experienced a 52% loss of water it produced over the previous month, or tens of thousands of gallons, said Kevin Hoch of PA Environmental Solutions Inc. (PESI), the borough’s water and waste-water operator. That’s up from losses of 45% in 2018, and 20% for what’s considered normal operations in an aging system like Duncannon’s.
Water losses are calculated by subtracting the water sold from the water produced from borough wells. There also is some play in the numbers because of older meters that may be inaccurate or other problems. However, everyone seems to agree the losses are too large to be only old meters. The borough is working to get grants that would replace a large number of the older meters around town.
This isn’t the first time the losses have been this high. Prior to system repairs, the borough saw water loss spikes in the 50% and 60% range. But those were emergencies and subsided with leak repairs, replacement of old mains and valves that weren’t working properly.
Over the years, that work has cost millions of dollars, and the borough contends the system overall is much better off for the future. Past infrastructure reviews show the borough has tens of millions of dollars more in upgrades it should do to its various services.
Last year the borough found and fixed several large leaks that it thought were significantly contributing to the overall monthly losses. Losses fell some, but not enough. And that means more scrutiny from regulators such as the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), and the Susquehanna River Basin Commission (SRBC), which reviews and permits water resources in the region.
“All parties involved need to satisfy DEP and the SRBC,” Hoch said about the situation.
But there’s been some friction between the borough and PESI. Its President Todd Mace sent a letter to regulators and the borough that allegedly said the borough wasn’t following the company’s advice, such as bringing in leak-detection experts.
“I was not happy because it was not true. We’re not disregarding anything PESI said,” Kirkhoff said at the meeting.
The borough has taken its operators’ advice, brought in experts, engaged its own employees to find leaks, and then fixed them as soon as possible, he said. However, Kirkhoff noted leak detection services for water can be expensive, and the borough has been engaged with multiple infrastructure projects.
The regulating agencies said they continue to work with Duncannon on its water losses, but so far the actions it has taken have not stopped the leaks.
The SRBC said in an email that Duncannon needs to get its water losses under 20% before 2024, per a 2019 agreement. If it can’t find the source of these leaks, the commission would reevaluate the situation.
“While the commission can and does use enforcement powers to ensure compliance with its regulations, staff strive to work cooperatively with systems when it comes to system losses,” said Gene Veno, SRBC director of governmental affairs and public advocacy.
For example, a recent line rupture caused Duncannon to go over its permitted water pumping from its wells, Veno said. SRBC issued a violation notice but decided it wouldn’t fine the borough.
“The Commission would much prefer Duncannon devote resources to infrastructure repair and maintenance,” Veno said.
The state DEP is on the same wavelength.
“Duncannon has continued to see excessive unaccounted for water loss and has had trouble locating leaks. They have fixed some leaks that bring them out of periodic emergency situations, but so far they haven’t been able to find anything large,” said John Repetz, a spokesman for DEP.
The department offered the borough assistance through its Professional Engineering Services program for leak detection, he said. It was just waiting for the borough’s response last week. The program would help the borough identify problems without a cost. It would then have to pay for its repairs.
DEP said systems are not obligated to do work found by the program, but Duncannon likely will have to make fixes. It operates its own water system and the losses are costly. For every 100 gallons pumped, 52 are going nowhere and not being paid for.
“That’s water that doesn’t need to be lifted out of the ground with electric pumps, treated at the treatment plant, and then pumped through the many miles of distribution pipes, all of which are costly activities paid for directly by the customers that could be reduced,” Veno said.
Jim T. Ryan can be reached via email at