Epcor -- our water dollars at work?

Discussion in 'Sun City General Discussions' started by IndependentCynic, Jul 21, 2020.

  1. IndependentCynic

    IndependentCynic Active Member

    I live in SC Phase 1 and travel north-south on 111th ave a fair amount. Near Sun City Blvd (on 111th) is one of SC's wells which Epcor has been apparently "refurbishing" for what seems like nearly a year, and it's still in progress. I realize the Corono virus may have slowed things a bit, but there seems to be activity most every time I drive by. Private wells I've had drilled on my properties when I lived in other parts of the country generally took 2-3 weeks start to finish. I realize a large commercial well isn't the same task as a residential one, but one has to wonder what is really going on here? After all, the World Trade Center was built in just under 14-months.
     
  2. BPearson

    BPearson Well-Known Member

    Haven't been down that way in a while IC but nothing from EPCOR surprises me anymore. Our water bill the other day was over $70 for the month, first time ever that high. We do drive over 99th and Hutton on a regular basis and damned if there isn't the worst smell on that corner. They've worked on it several times over the years but lately the stink is almost unbearable.
     
  3. BP, if the smell is similar to sewage then the sewer line has been compromised. I believe 99th and Hutton is Phase 2 which would make the sewer line cast iron if beyond the home owner’s property line. If the smell is located in a home owner’s property, it is a good chance that the lateral sewer line is something called Orangeberg which is basically a coated tar paper. Tree roots can easily compromise this which is why my two trees in front grew so quickly and are so green from the nitrogen. I recently had to put in a new sewer line for $14,000+ and my guest bathroom still isn’t put back together which another $3,000. Valley building code changes eliminated the use of Orangeberg after 1979.

    Hope my misery has provided a somewhat good explanation.
     
  4. Adam560

    Adam560 Member

    That manhole at 99th and Hutton really stinks, especially when you are sitting there on your golf cart waiting the interminable amount of time it takes for the light to change. There is a man (or should I say person)hole in front of my house. Every few years I have to call Epcor to come out and reseal it to so that I don't have to deal with the ghost of burritos past.
     
    BPearson likes this.
  5. BPearson

    BPearson Well-Known Member

    Ghost of burrito's past or in this case is it burrito's passed? Come on EPCOR get your ass out here and fix the stink.

    Sorry about your sewer line miseries GDV, but this one has been an ongoing and reoccurring problem. The last time it took an inordinate amount of time to fix and now they need come back and do it again. As A560 pointed out, someone is going to drop dead as their "artificial intelligence light system" (their words to me when i called and complained) can leave you sitting there forever.
     
  6. aggie

    aggie Well-Known Member

    The new well at 111th & Florida is now completed and they are just waiting for final permits. It sure took a long time to finish but what an improvement to the site. Let's hope they fire up the pump and it operates as intended.
     
  7. As you look at your EPCOR bill and the petitioning to the ACC for consolidation, remember that since they took over our water and sewer service, they have taken out dividends in the amount of $799,000,000 CDN or $559,000,000 USD more or less. Check out their financial statements.
    Feel better now? Dividends go to the City of Edmonton, Canada.
     
  8. IndependentCynic

    IndependentCynic Active Member

    If I recall correctly the well equipment when I moved to SC was surrounded with a hedge of sour orange. I thought that looked nice and it mostly shielded the equipment from view. At some point the water company tore that out and replaced it with a white pickett fence that was pretty lame from an aesthetics standpoint, IMO -- a cheap looking fence that provided minimal shielding of equipment from view. The latest is quite the monster of a block wall and iron gates -- well done for what it is, I guess, but it has an "industrial" look to me in a residential setting. I guess I preferred the living green hedge over the starkness of iron and cement.

    That strip along 111th Ave has evolved over the years -- it used to be a nice area to walk (when I was younger and could walk that far) The median on the SC side of 111th is maybe 20-feet wide and was flood irrigated grass dotted with palm and olive trees. Not exactly an oasis, but green, cooler, and some shade on a hot day. The County over the years cut down most of the trees (reportedly b/c neighbors complained the olive trees pollen affected their allergies) and replaced a good deal of the grass with rock that's not easy to walk on. It might be cheaper to maintain, but it's not "better" IMHO. It all contributes to the heat island effect that has (along with global warming) altered the weather in the Valley dramatically -- even 30 years ago we still had rain in the summers and generally several weeks of rainy weather in Dec-Jan. Today, most of the farmed areas and the relatively green Sonora desert areas have been replaced with housing, everything paved, tiled, or gravel. Just hot and dry.
     

Share This Page