Shut Off Your Water

There are a couple of reminders to pass on to all our residents. If you plan to be away from your home for long periods of time such as a week or more, you should shut off water to your home by turning off the water using your own shutoff valve.  Our regulations say that you should not be using the District's shutoff inside our District's meter box but your own, separate shutoff in your water line to your cabin.  If you plan to be away for the winter, then we recommend you winterize your cabin by draining the water before the hard winter gets here.  Obviously, this will eliminate finding broken, leaking water pipes in your home when you return in the Spring.

 Paperless Automatic Billing

Rim Trail Domestic Water Improvement District has implemented Automatic Billing for water bills.  Several of you have already enrolled and will begin making direct payments to the District.  This saves time, checks, stamps and the possibility of being late in making a payment on your water bill.

Click here for the application for Automatic Billing.  You can also call Dan Utz at his office and he will walk you through the process of completing the application. Either way you can enjoy the convenience of having your water bill taken care of automatically each month.  If you would like to know more about this program, give Dan a call at (928) 595-0290

811 - ARIZONA BLUE STAKE

Recently, we had two water line breaks that were man-caused. One break was due to someone driving their vehicle too close to one of our Blue Water Line Markers for a water valve box and consequently broke the main water line.  The second break was due to digging without first calling 811.

We realize most of us who have other homes in the valley or moved from the city, expect the water lines to be in the street utility easements.  That is not the case in the Rim Trail Domestic Water Improvement District. The original water lines were installed in the 1950’s and they did not necessarily follow along our roads in Rim Trail. In fact about 25% of our water lines run thru private property.  The water line still has an utility easement, but it goes through some of the properties in our community, instead of along the roads. We will be installing more Blue Water Line Markers in Rim Trail. Then you can see where the water line goes through the properties and avoid hitting any water lines.  Until we can complete this project, the only way to know where the water line is before you dig is to call 811, Arizona Blue Stake. It is also the LAW.

 WATER SHUTOFF VALVE

In our District Rules and Regulations document (on our web site) dated January 1, 2007, we require all home owners to have a private shut-off valve on their side of the meter (Paragraph 5.4.B). Customers are not to use the District’s meter as a “turn-on/turn-off device except in the case of emergency” (paragraph 5.2.I).

We realize that many of our homes were built years ago before the idea of having a personal shut-off valve was instituted.  However, the need for this is real; on many occasions if a homeowner had such a valve and used it, it would have prevented major water leaks.  Using our district meter valve to turn on and off your water wears it out and if it fails, we have to shut down the main line to replace it. In addition, there is the issue of backflow, of water either being drained or siphoned from your home if there is a break or leak on the main line.

So to help our homeowners who do not have such a private shut-off valve, please contact Dan Utz, District Manager, (928) 595-0290 so we can work together to get one installed along with a backflow check valve.