Q. What is Marian Heights?
A. Marian Heights is a subdivision within the Village of Elm Grove, originally developed by the School Sisters of Notre Dame (SSND). Unlike much of the village, this subdivision includes a community well with a distribution system (water mains). The system has 111 homes connected, as displayed on this map: Map of Marian Heights homes.
The SSND property and St. Mary’s Church and School are not on the Marian Heights community well.
MHC stands for Marian Heights Corporation, which is the homeowners’ association legally responsible for operating the well and system. MHC is a volunteer, non-profit association with a board comprised of property owners on the water system.
Q. I have no water/low pressure/other problem, what should I do?
A. You can always call our hotline at 262-212-2278 to hear if a known issue has been announced. The fastest way to be notified of problems is to subscribe to our email list.
If your home is on our system (map) do not call the village hall – they do not have any information for our water system.
If you DO NOT have power, it is likely the MHC pump does not have power either, which eventually creates a supply outage. When electric service is restored, water service should return soon after.
If you DO have power, the first step should always be to check other faucets, including your outside tap (if not shut off for winter). Make sure your home shut-off valve is open.
If all your taps are affected, call or visit your nearby neighbors to see if other homes are having the same problem. Also, look outside on your property (near the road) for any water on your lawn or in the sewer ditch. Water main or lateral leaks create standing or flowing water in these areas.
If you believe there is a problem, call our hotline at 262-212-2278 and listen to the message – there could be a planned or known issue. You can leave a message on the hotline voicemail, for any new problem or question, and board members will receive a notification immediately.
Q. I am selling/buying a home in Marian Heights and need a water test result or other documentation. Where can I find it?
A. In the MHC Documents area of the website you can find the annual Consumer Confidence Reports (CCR) for previous years. You can also find the 3-year sanitary survey done by the DNR, which is the most comprehensive explanation of the condition of the well available.
Our system operates under DNR supervision and has Public Water Supply ID 26802039 with information available on the DNR website. The system is sampled monthly for bacteriological safety, and other contaminant testing semi-annually as required by the DNR. You can find sample results on the DNR site (click here to visit the DNR page for our well).
Q. Does MHC have good water? Should we filter or purify our water?
A. Historically MHC has very good water. Whether to filter/purify is a decision for each resident on our well to make, but it is never a bad idea to at least filter your drinking water due to the age of the pipes (both the mains and most homes) and the presence of particles.
A carbon filter (e.g. refrigerator filter, Britta pitcher) effectively removes virtually all particles, and is good for taste. More thorough purification can be achieved with a reverse osmosis system. For anyone with a compromised immune system, or infant or elderly residents, there is more reason to consider drinking/cooking with purified water.
Q. Does MHC filter, purify or chlorinate the water for the whole system?
A. There is no system-level filtration, purification or chlorination.
Although a standard process for municipal systems, chlorination has never been the practice on our well. In addition to the chlorine smell some find bothersome, chlorination adds chemical and maintenance cost and the requirement to regularly test the chlorine level. The DNR has recommended we institute regular continuous chlorination, but it is not required (except for disinfection if we have a bacterial sample return unsafe).
Q. How and when do we pay water fees? How much are fees?
A. The service billing period every year is June 01 – May 31. Water fees are billed annually in arrears (meaning each bill covers the past 12 months). Normally the bill is delivered late June or early July and due by July 31. Fees are established at each annual meeting of the members, which is typically held in June. The fees for 2016-2017 were set at $600/year per home, and the same amount has been approved for 2017-2018.
Q. What happens when we don’t have power?
A. Our system requires 3-phase power to pump from the well into a large reservoir, and also to boost the water into a pressure tank. When the pump house does not have adequate power, these pumps cannot run.
The pressure tank holds enough water to supply the system under normal load for an hour or more, depending on usage. But eventually when the tank supply is exhausted it cannot be refilled from the reservoir or well pump without power.