– St. Martin Parish Council Chairman Chris Tauzin and St. Martin Parish Water District No. 4 Manager Ronald Daigle disagreed over their word choices for the quality of water being provided to consumers in the water district during the May 26 meeting of the St. Martin Consolidated Water District No. 4 board.
Tauzin had suggested that the board approve allowing the City of St. Martinville’s water service to provide water to customers in Catahoula, who are served by Water District 4 via water from the St. Martin Parish Industrial Park water system.
Those three systems are in the process of combining to form the Consolidated Water District No. 4.
Tauzin suggested at the previous board meeting that once St. Martinville gets both of its current water wells online, that the city and the Catahoula water system enter into an intergovernmental agreement to allow the Catahoula system to use money to purchase a generator for the second water well ahead of schedule. Tauzin’s reasoning is that the money will eventually be pooled into the same accounts for the consolidated water district.
The consolidation process includes rehabbing both Well 1 and Well 2 in St. Martinville, with the first one completed and awaiting a two-week testing process, after which Well 2 will be taken off line and rehabbed.
Before the city can provide water to another water district, the state requires that it have two wells running and that both have outside power sources. The city currently has a generator for Well 1 but it cannot be used for Well 2 because it does not have the amperage to generate the power to reach the second well from its location, so another generator must be purchased for it.
The disagreement came after Tauzin referred to complaints by customers in the Catahoula area about bad water. Parish Councilman Hoyt Louviere said he saw several Facebook posts complaining of the water quality.
Quality
“My recommendation was that we’re refurbishing the second well,” Tauzin said. “The first one has been refurbished. The second one is being refurbished in a six-week period. My recommendation was to get these people good water. The water is terrible. I don’t care what anyone says. The water is bad.
“They were complaining on Facebook all weekend.”
If a new soft-start generator could be purchased via the intergovernmental agreement, when the second well refurbishment is completed, he said, the city would be able to provide water to the Catahoula residents.
Tauzin said he just wanted to find a way to provide better water to Catahoula residents.
Louviere said his concern was that people in his district were complaining of brown water. If the engineers were to say it was possible for St. Martinville to provide better water to Catahoula residents, he would be all for it.
Daigle said that last week the chlorine residuals were low in Catahoula, and to get the chlorine levels up the system had to move more water.
That stirs up the water in the line, he said.
“To flush at this rate, you stir up stuff in the line, and that’s what they saw,” Daigle said. “They didn’t see bad water like you’re saying. The water’s not bad.
“Even if we go with the city water right now we’re going to get color in the water.”
Tauzin said that when he said bad water he was referring to discolored water. Daigle said that if customers see discoloration they should turn on an outside faucet and let it run until the water clears.
“Because we have a news reporter, I’d appreciate it if you wouldn’t say ‘bad water,’” Daigle said. “Discolored is the correct term.”
“When you’re saying discolored water, you’re going to take that white shirt you’re wearing and make it brown,” Tauzin said.
Daigle said that is the result of either lime or iron that has been loosened from the pipes getting into some homes, but the quality of water tested regularly by the district and the state show the water is good quality. The color would be there no matter the source of the water because the coating in the line is being scoured and therefore putting color in the water.
Daigle also asked that customers who see discolored water in their homes call the water district office rather than complaining on Facebook.
Daigle again said he would appreciate if the word “bad” not be used to describe the water.
“I don’t correct you when you talk, and I don’t really appreciate you trying to correct me,” Tauzin said.
“Well, I apologize to you for that,” Daigle said. “But as a water professional, I have to say that.”
“I’m a leader of this parish, a parish representative, and we’ve been fighting bad water for a long time,” Tauzin said. “I consider bad water to be water that’s not drinkable or that discolors your clothes when you wash them. To me, good water is clear water. My determination of bad water and good water is different. I’m just voicing my opinion.”
“Well, I apologize for any misunderstanding,” Daigle said.
“Not a problem,” Tauzin said. “We’re good.”
The district can’t respond to complaints on Facebook because they might not be seen, he said, but any call to the office would result in someone being sent out to look into the problem, even at night if needed, Daigle said.
Parish President Pete Delcambre, who is overseeing the consolidation process, and board members also raised other reasons for not having St. Martinville provide water to Catahoula ahead of the finish of the consolidation process, including issues of billing for Catahoula customers not being handled in the St. Martinville office as well as engineering questions and other concerns.
Tauzin said that his concern was getting better quality water to customers in Catahoula whether it was two weeks or three months ahead of schedule. Any relief would be appreciated by the consumers, he said.
Office space
Delcambre said the parish is negotiating with b1Bank for office space for the new water district. The building on Honore Street was formerly an office for Judge Paul deMahy when he was an attorney but has been unused for years.
It has not been determined if the building would be rented or purchased yet. The building also has no drive-up window but Delcambre said that the option to add a drive-up window would be explored.
A response from b1Bank’s corporate office was expected within a week, after which board members might get a chance to inspect the building.
