Mountain Mutual Water Company -- Infrastructure

MMWC's infrastructure includes the following:

Two wells in the Gillette Flats area (a main well installed in the early 1980s and a back-up well installed in the mid-1990s),
A 250,000 gallon storage tank,
Five smaller water tanks located in the CCME subdivision that hold between 20,000 and 30,000 gallons each, and
Over 65 miles of transmission lines and mains.

MMWC has a user density of about 5 tapped users per mile of mains. Colorado Springs Utilities, by contrast, has a user density of about 73 tapped users per mile of mains.

About 2/3 of MMWC's transmission and distribution lines -- most of which was installed in the 1970s -- is comprised of 3"-diameter schedule 40 PVC (with low pressure and volume capacity) pipe. MMWC would like to replace its transmission line with 6"-diameter, high-density polyethylene pipe, in order to supply its mains with the volume and pressure needed to serve CCME's growing population. Over a long time frame, MMWC would also like to replace its mains with 4"-diameter pipe.

Inherited Infrastructure Problems

Before Golden Cycle Land Corp. conveyed the distribution system to MMWC, MMWC obtained an analysis, dated 1982, from engineer Ollie Watts. That analysis reported several issues, including the following:

“System was not engineered, but was installed as needed and expanded as development progressed.”

“All lines are sch. 40 PVC, 3”, rather than being sized for demand.”

“The system is totally manual.”

“Taps, reducers, and other items are not located, and the locations are rather iffy.”

“The mains are in all of the roads, and in numerous access roads also, which were not platted.”

“No air-vacuum valves were placed, so that hydrants must be opened for filling and draining of the lines to prevent air lock.”

Also suspect: the pipe cement used; the bedding and backfilling of the trenches; and the depth of bury.

Still-Existing Infrastructure Problems

Since 1982, MMWC has addressed some -- but not all -- of the problems it inherited from Golden Cycle Land Corporation. Among these are the installation of a new 250,000-gallon tank and the replacement of about 1/3 of its mains. But significant problems persist:

MMWC still has the same old, inadequate transmission line. This transmission line is too small (3” diameter) and too weak (schedule 40 PVC) to deliver more than 95 gpm.

MMWC’s system barely has sufficient volume and pressure to serve its existing user base, and MMWC often must alternately shut down different parts of the system in order to fill the subdivision’s tanks.

In 2008 and 2009, MMWC was frequently forced to temporarily and alternately shut off certain parts of the network in order to maintain adequate pressure in other parts of the network.

During the harsh winter of 2008, several MMWC mains froze or developed air-locks when flow was cut off

2008-era minutes

The pipe cement and couplings used in MMWC’s mains are failing at an increasing rate.

It takes a lot of pressure to push a large volume of water through small pipes. High pressure conditions have increased the frequency and severity of leaks in some parts of the system (e.g., along Troy).

Many of these problems could have been addressed in a more proactive fashion a long time ago. But until very recently, MMWC operated on a bare-bones, minimalist budget that provided almost nothing for capital investments or infrastructure improvements. See Budget page. Consequently, MMWC was only able to address these problems in a minimalist fashion.

MMWC can no longer defer much-needed infrastructure improvements -- most especially to its transmission line -- to accommodate its existing users and new CCME development.

How MMWC Intends To Address These Problems

To see how MMWC is addressing its infrastructure issues, please visit MMWC's "Plans & Projects" webpage.

To see how MMWC is addressing its budget issues, please visit MMWC's "Budget" and "Rates & Fees" webpages.