Rickreall Community Water Association is located in Rickreall, Oregon, but provides water throughout the area - even into the hills of West Salem. We have 6 wells located at different locations along Highway 51, and these are connected to about 40 miles of distribution lines and 5 water storage tanks.
If you're a customer of RCWA, you receive a newsletter periodically that refers to these wells:
- Shop Well
- Rankin Well
- Setniker Well
- Walker Well
- Orchard Well
- Highway Well
Our water storage tanks are varying sizes, depending on the number of customers we're serving in that particular location. One of these holds 350,000 gallons. Two of them hold 100,000 gallons. One holds 60,000 gallons, and the smallest holds 40,000 gallons.
During the driest months of the year, we closely monitor the depth of water in each of these wells and tanks. If our water supply diminishes too rapidly in the dry months, we begin to ask customers to conserve better. In case of a water supply emergency, we do have an agreement with Dallas that allows us to augment our water with theirs, although we haven't used it in years.
Regularly, we test each of the wells for water quality. Each month, or sooner if we suspect a problem, the wells are all tested for E. coli and coliform bacteria. We also test for nitrates on a regular basis to make sure we don't have a problem with contamination. If any problems are detected in the water tests, we accelerate the testing schedule until the problems are solved, and water quality returns to normal levels.
If you ever have a question or concern about our water, please contact us. We'll be happy to answer your questions.