Magnolia Water

[Lee Longstreet]

February 14, 2024  Magnolia Water Expansion
https://www.centralstateswaterresources.com/Central-States-Water-Resources-Surpasses-150k-Connections-Served

Private companies buying up local water systems
> click here

[Lee Longstreet]

To sign up with Magnolia for text message water system alerts ...
go to bit.ly/CustomerInfoUpdateForm

Magnolia Customer Support: 855-643-8152  https://www.centralstateswaterresources.com/magnolia-water

Not confirmed but understand from 3rd party that the following is contact info for Magnolia.  Please post a reply if any of this is incorrect, thanks.

Central States Water Resources CEO: Josiah Cox
Magnolia local representative:  Steve Ernst 985-640-1355
Magnolia Corporate customer rep: Chelsea Carter 314-380-8546
Magnolia V.P. Cheryl Watts 314-380-8466
Central States Water Resources: Todd Thomas, Senior V.P. & operations

Creation of Magnolia Water Utility Operating Company, LLC in Louisiana
(the link below includes the rate base calculations - note, Eden Isles is "Tier-2" rates)
https://lpscpubvalence.lpsc.louisiana.gov/portal/PSC/ViewFile?fileId=BUWXR02jwro%3D

Compare our rates with other water districts in Louisiana
https://lpsc.louisiana.gov/docs/utilities/Comparisons/Water/LPSC%20Jurisdictional%20WATER%20Rate%20&%20Fee%20Comparison%2012-08-2023.pdf

[Lee Longstreet]

May 8, 2024 Apx. 9pm - Water out again and right at bath time.

Spoke to Steve Ernst, the local rep. for Magnolia 2 days ago because I wanted to know if the water tower had been disconnected.  It did not make sense to me how water flow would stop unless there was a very prolonged power outage that depleted all of the reserve water in the tower.  He gave me info on how the system is designed to work and assured me the water tower reservoir was still active.   He also said they were going back to chloramine as soon as the new filtration system was fully operational because storage of chlorine on site was hazardous. 

... Well, it looks like we need the whole story because something is not right. 

[Lee Longstreet]

Fox8 Filtration Upgrade, (click here) for interview with local resident

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

            (Audio of Ribbon cutting ceremony)

[Lee Longstreet]

June 11, 2024 (10am) Magnolia Water Ribbon Cutting Ceremony - answers to problems

At the event, I had the opportunity to speak with Mr. Todd Thomas, Senior VP and operations manager for about 15 minutes.  My interests were primarily "quality" and "reliability".  The water quality problem should be taken care of by the new filtration system. 

Unscheduled complete loss of water supply is a safety, security and sanitation issue ...

It turns out that the water supply reliability problems resulting in boil water alerts were caused by multiple electrical problems.  We went over each cause and effect -

* Electrical supply instability - fixed with installation of a new service transformer installed by CLECO.

* Backup generator problems - change over switchgear was defective (generator would auto-start but not go on-line)

* Water Tower level sensor - Sensor was adjusted too low.  Normally, when the water level drops in the tower the sensor tells the well pump to start refilling as needed.  It turns out the level sensor was set too low.  If the water pressure drops an alarm is sent to the maintenance team but because the water level was set too low the tower would simply run out of water by the time maintenance could arrive.  Mr. Thomas assured me these problems have been fixed. 

It was refreshing to talk to someone who knew in detail of each of the problems & fixes causing our water outages.  Let's hope this solves our water reliability problems.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Here is the interview with Josiah Cox, CEO - CSWR by WWL-TV regarding water system upgrades,
> click here

[Lee Longstreet]

Posted for > Debbie longstreet
Eden Isles
•
June 13, 2024 (also posted on "NextDoor")
•
Magnolia Waters Ribbon cutting presentation that took place on Tuesday June 11th with President & CEO of CSWR, Josiah Cox and St Tammany officials.

Many residents of Eden Isle as well as our surrounding neighbors were upset because they were not notified this was taking place and probably felt robbed of the opportunity to address their concerns. Myself as well as resident Lee Longstreet, my brother-n-law, happen to be in the right place at the right time.

I did an on camera interview with fox 8 and Lee had the opportunity to speak in detail with Todd Thomas, Senior VP regarding the malfunction of sensors in our water tower and other issues.

The entire presentation was recorded and for those of you that would like to listen I will provide you with the link to access this as well as my interview, and Lee's discussion with Mr.Thomas.

All of your concerns are our concerns! During the presentation, Josiah Cox stated, " our hope is to continue to scale the company and to be able to bring down costs for some neighbors." Eric Skrmetta our public service commissioner is in charge of approving our water rate increases. I stated to him I agree that our system needed updating and I understand we would have an increase on our water bill but many residents have seen a 300 plus percent increase! Many residents are on a fixed income, retired and single parents. This is not affordable for many residents. His response to me, Another system in LA was upgraded and other work that was done in other places is a shared cost across the system. He said many things go into the equation. Cost of repairs, maintenance, workers, (he mentioned other things but lost me after he said and the stockholders need to make money. He then said once there is stabilization, we should see smaller increases as we go forward. I was not happy hearing this. I reiterated some neighbors state their water bill is higher than their electric bill. I also stated that communication regarding boil water advisory's is not timely and we often do not receive notification until several hours after an occurrence. He is aware and they are working on this.

The website to hear the presentation is Http://www.eiohforum.com Then click on, "enter the forum" .
Under subject, magnolia water started by Lee Longstreet
Post #3 - fox 8 interview filtration upgrade.  Below that you can access the recorded audio of the ribbon cutting presentation by clicking on the "play" arrow
Post #4 - Lee's article regarding the conversation with Todd Thomas senior VP on the different issues with our water tower malfunctions.

Also you are welcome to add your comments on this forum but in order to do so you will need to create a user name and password. If you later forget your user name or password it cannot be recovered so write it down in a safe place. You do not need to have a log in to read the forum or any other topics of interest you may want to read.

[Lee Longstreet]

Here is the 2023 water quality report from Magnolia.

https://bit.ly/2023CCREdenIsles