Company Info

Supplying water to 64 homes on the outskirts of New Harmony, Ut


Service Area

Harmony Heights Water Company currently provides water service to 55 homes on the outskirts of New Harmony, Utah.  While the area served has a “New Harmony” mailing address it actually resides entirely in Washington County, Utah, outside the boundaries of the city.  The service area consists of the following subdivisions: Harmony Heights, Phases 1, 2, and 3; and Flint Ridge. In addition, a single distribution line extends beyond the subdivision boundary to service an area along 800 East.  (A schematic representation of the area is presented in the figure below.) Several areas, most notable along 800 East, along Harmony Heights Road, and at the terminus of 860 South, have the potential of future development.  Should such development occur, it would be the responsibility of the developer to extend the Company distribution system. According to the current plan, when fully subscribed, the water company will provide services to 85 homes.




Water System Overview


 A schematic drawing of the water system is presented above.   The diagram is not to scale and street layout has been simplified.  The streets actually meander as may be expected for country roads.  Contour lines are also approximate and were included only to show that the tanks in the center are on a hill, and the ground goes up gradually on both sides of the hill.

The system is supplied by a single well and associated pump.  Water storage is facilitated by two storage tanks situated on the top of a hill in the center of the subdivision.  There is an additional small tank at the edge of the subdivision that provides a buffer for the homes on the cul-de-sac.  The piping system is essentially as drawn.  The short branches on the pipes indicate hookup locations.

There is a bright light at the top of the large tank on top of the hill that comes on when the tank level drops too low.  The light points towards the intersection of 800 East and Creekside Ln.  If the light is on, the emergency contact should be notified.





Before You Dig

                                 * * * *   a drop of prevention could avoid wasting hundreds of gallons    * * * *
.      Subdivision Lots – Water connections are located at lot corners and proceed from the main under the street to the meter housing and terminate.  Unless the lot has an easement for water company access there should by no pipes traversing the lot.  Consult your plot map and if questions persist, contact the company.
.     Streets – Water pipes are located below most of the streets in the subdivision as shown in the diagram above.  These pipes have no tracer lines and therefore cannot be located electronically.  In addition, Blue Stakes has no information about this system so they are of no help.  Therefore, if you plan to dig under any street in the subdivision, or in areas where a water company easement exists, contact the water company for assistance in locating lines that may be encountered.  (Remember – you break it, you fix it and it will not be cheep!)
.     On your lot – The property owner is responsible for all piping on the lot side of the meter.  The Company has no information about water lines on private property.  It is the owner’s responsibility to know where the lines are and take appropriate precautions when digging.  Should an accident occur, particularly in the line between the meter and the house, there is a turnoff on the supply side of the meter but a key may be required.  Therefore, if you are going to dig in the area of the supply water line, contact the Company and arrange an emergency plan.




Accidents Happen

Despite our best efforts accidents happen.  Should a pipe break, or leak, on the owner’s side of the meter, the property owner will be responsible for the water use as recorded by the meter.
In some instances, property owners have encountered extraordinary water usage.  In an effort to identify possible problems, the Company advises that the water supply line be turned off at the location where it enters the house, and all exterior water supplies be turned off.  Then with no water running in the home or outside, examine the meter.  (This may take a special wrench to open the meter housing.  The Company would be happy to help – contact us.)  If the water use indicator is still rotating, there is a problem in the supply line, likely in the line, meter to home, or in the exterior water system fed from this line.

Water Hardness

Even though we live in the Rocky Mountains at an elevation of 5,300 feet, we live in a desert with highly alkaline soil.  Therefore, our water is prone to leave calcium deposits on faucets and piping.  To avoid this, many of our residents have water softeners.  Proper adjustment of these systems requires knowledge of alkalinity or hardness.  A recent (July 2018) measurement showed that the hardness of our water is 425 ppm or 25 grains.




System Maintenance

  • Tank Maintenance, top interior surface and ladders, 2017: The top interior surface of the 80K gallon tank was observed to be rusting. As a result, it was sandblasted and refinished. In addition, the uncaged and unlocked ladders on both tanks were deemed a hazard and alteration was required. Therefore, cages were installed around each ladder and a lockable cover placed on the bottom access. In addition, railings were placed on the top edge of the tank adjacent to the sides of each ladder.
  • Broken Pipe June, 2020: The Co was notified of water percolating through a crack in the street on 880 E. Cir. A repair was made on Wed, 6/17/2020. Anticipating water turn off for 860 S. & the circle, the customers to be effected were notified. Unfortunately, the valve at the corrner of 860 S and the Circle didn’t stop the flow. Therefore the supply to all of HH2 had to be turned off at the hill-top tank. We tried to notify the additional customers, door-to-door, but were only partially successful. Once the pavement was removed and dirt excavated to the pipe, it was apparent that two sections of the pipe separated about 1/8″ at a bell joint. The joint was removed and a patch inserted. While the outage was anticipated at several hours, it took the entire day due to problems draining the syste. We want to apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused and thank everyone for their cooperation.
  • Meter Replacement Project, August, 2020: Meters in our system were installed as customers requested over the past 30 years. Considering the age of the meters, their expected lifetime of 30 years, and the possibility of automated meter readings, the Board decided to replace all the meters with RF readable ones. New meters were installed for most of our customers during the week of 7/13/2020. The remaining during the week of 8/24/2020. Most were done by hanging upside down in the meter well and trying to avoid the hoard of spiders that usually descends. The meter wells on HH2-lots 15 & 16 required extra work, excavation and re-plumbing. These modifications were made in July, 2021. Automated readings started at the end of September, 2020. At that time, we also changed our meter reading schedule to once a month all year long instead of only in the summer. In addition, billing was changed to use water consumption in gallons instead of KGal.
  • Tank Level Control System: On September 8, 2021, our community experienced a significant thunder storm and as a result of a lightning strike our tank level control system suffered extreme damage and ceased functioning. Whereas the system provided no direct feedback, the failure wasn’t noticed until the water pressure in Phase 1 reached a critically low level. At this point, manual tank control was initiated and service arranged. Upon investigation, the damage was found to be catastrophic and a replacement system was ordered. Unfortunately, during the manual operation period, the tanks ran dry on several occasions. Without a level indication, pump control was a pure guess. We apologize for the inconveniences this may have caused and hope for your understanding and forgiveness. The new system was installed on September 30th. While the old system provided no continuous measurement of the tank level and only a pair of set points to start and stop pumping, the new one provides a continuous level indication and the ability to set as many set points as desired. It feeds data to and is controlled by an app the operators can access from their phone. In addition it will send notifications if the level falls below a specified set point. It also has the ability to implement logical control decisions like pump only overnight, during the lowest utility rate, unless the tank reaches a certain level then pump anytime. Hopefully this improvement will make the system more reliable and easier for the operators to control and maintain. We look forward to better reliability and easier operation in the future.
  • System Maintenance During 2022: There were several service interruptions during 2022.
    Broken Pipe – HH@-Lots 1 & 2: During construction at HH2-Lot 2 (August), the water pipe servicing both lots 1 & 2 was severed during construction. This required repairing the supply line to the two wells and re-building the well for Lot 2. To facilitate the repair, a new isolation valve was inserted in a new well close to the two existing wells. Unfortunately, service to HH2 was interrupted several times. Once without notice at the time of the break, and once with email notice. (In addition to breaking the HHWCo pipe, the accident also severed the main transporting water from the Jessen farm well to their holding pond. It was also repaired at the same time.)
    Broken Pipe – HH2-Lot 19: The meter well was observed to be filling with water in September. Excavation found the leak to be between the street and the well. It was repaired without service interruption to other customers.
    New Service Connection Installed 830 S Harmony Heights Rd: When HH1 was developed, water service for two lots outside the development was included in the system. While the obligation was for two hookups, only one was installed at the time. Recent property transactions have resulted in the planned development of the lot to be serviced by the other hookup. After the owners requested the installation of a meter and paid the associated fee, the Water Co installed a valve in a well and a meter well and associated meter in September. Luckily, there was an existing tap to the main and it was used for the connection. No service interruption was required.
  • System Maintenance During 2023:
    New Service Connection Installed 710 S Harmony Heights Rd: The development of the property at 710 S Harmony Heights Rd required the availability of culinary water for the approval to build a home. Having water rights, the owners approached the Water Co about the possibility of having the Water Co provide culinary water in exchange for Water rights and a buy-in fee. On approval of the Board, the transaction occurred and a new connection to our system was made during October, 2023.
    Tank Maintenance, November:
    Repair of 80K gallon tank overflow drainpipe – During the resurfacing of the 104K gallon tank, the overflow drainpipe of the 80K gallon tank was observed to be clogged. A camera was used to find the blockage. The blockage removal required a small section of the pipe to be replaced. In the process, a new clean-out port was installed.
    The inside of the 104,000 gallon tank was re-surfaced. A new 4″ drain line and associated valve, was installed on the tank.
    Broken Pipe HH1-Lot 10, December – During construction on HH1-Lot 10, the water main on the cul-de-sac was broken and repaired.

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