Bayview Road Water System 1 (Bayview Road WS1) serves 12 Bayview Road (the well owner), and 8 other homes . This is the public website for the system.
Bayview Road Water System 1 (Bayview Road WS1) serves 12 Bayview Road (the well owner), and 8 other homes . This is the public website for the system.
System and Membership Information
System Components - The system is comprised of 1) a Well (well pump, motor, sleeve) 2) a Storage Tank 3) a pressurizing pump (next to the tank), 4) a pump house with 4 pressure tanks for pressure regulation 5) under ground plumbing pipes to deliver water to 8 additional homes and 6) underground electric from the power pole to a dedicated 220v service and from the pump house to the well and the pump house to the tank.
Non-Potable Water only - The water should not be used for drinking water. If you want to do that, you are doing that at your own risk. Water filtration is advised/required if you would like to drink the well water. While it often tests at levels that are proper for consumption, and while some folks have consumed it past and present, there are no promises made for potable water quality at any time.
Water Quality Testing - The water is tested Quarterly by Monterey County Health Department as part of a "Chemical Testing and Notification" System. They look always look for 1) coliform bacteria and 2) E.coli. In theory if those two are not there, the water might be safe to drink but doing so is at your own risk because the water is not monitored in real time. Problems could arise between testing and just after testing and we'd be unaware of those since there is no real time testing, thus never assume the water is below recommended contamination levels for drinking. Intermittantly there are other contaminants they test for including Hex Chrome, Nitrates and 123 (???)
Water Quality Testing History - From records we've seen, the system has had some level of testing since 1971. it has never tested for E.coli. From records we've seen it does intermittently test for the Coliform Bacteria. (approximately 1x per year on average). The cure for that is 1) a bleach treatment described below OR 2) simply by doing nothing. The testing is very sensitive and subject to false positives, and there is reason to believe the water quality may vary on its own.
Known Expenses -
Annual County Registration Fee - There is an annual registration fee charged by Monterey County for the System that was just under $800/year in 2021 It's now at 1200/year (as of 2025). No reasonable explanation has been given for the increase. That is divided 8 ways.
Monthly Water Service Fee - There is a $40/month fee for the water service itself. ($30 was increased to 35 and then 40 in 2024 and 2025).
Comments: No meters are currently used on the system. Thus, annual, known costs are currently approximately $460/yr. NOTE: as of 11/2025 we are in process of installing meters and we will shift to a cost based metered billing system)
Billing for Known Expenses - Known expenses are billed one time between June and August for a July 1 - June 30 fiscal year. A single payment for the year is expected via check or cash. Paypal may also be an option.
Other Expenses and Billing for those - Maintenance Expenses,. Repair Expenses and Capital Upgrade costs will be split 8 ways with some minor exceptions where components are not shared by all parties. They may be billed with the annual fee or they may be billed separately. The owner may also ask/demand payment up front for those fees.
Escrow Account - There is currently no escrow account and as of now there are no intentions to set one up. We expect all members on the system to have access to up to $10,000 in cash or credit line with 3 days notice for justified matters. NOTE: An $80,000 expense is unheard of and might only transpire if the mainline was destroyed and needed to be replace. Most of the largest capital expenditures should max out around $10,000 total.
Membership - At any point in time, anyone on the well system can choose to stop taking water from the system with no advanced notice. Simply submit notice in writing and terminate the connection and you can be done. Any fees paid in advance for that year will be forfeited, but they are minimal in the scope of things. If you ever give up membership, you are not guaranteed an option to be added back at a later date .
Monterey County Quarterly Testing Details
Frequency - The testing is done quarterly by Employees of Monterey County Health Department
Frequency Details - The quarterly testing is on a random schedule, it's not always 4 months apart.
Notification - They provide no notice they are coming.
Self Service - They help themselves to a outdoor tap on any one of the properties on the system.
Collection Procedure -They open the hose bib allow a little water to run and then fill up a plastic bottle with 100ml of water (about 1/3 of a soda can or so)
Random Homes - They have a hand written testing history index card that tells them where they pulled prior tests from to try to change up addresses, although that should be irrelevant given they are testing for the entire system with one sample.
Notice to Homeowner - They are supposed to leave a testing notice on the door of property the sample was drawn from if no one was at home and acknowledged them during testing.
Notice to Well System Owner/Manager - They do not leave a notice on the well manager/owners residence when testing is done
Notice of Test Results -They are supposed to provide a written report of test results in a timely manner, but that may end up being as much as 2 weeks after testing results are back. That delay is odd given they provide a voucher for retesting in that packet making it difficult to clean and submit for new testing quickly (an indicator of lesser concern). :They do typically provide a call if the system test failed, but why that's not an email with more timely test results is odd and none of this showed any type of timing concern for the well system members. NOTE: this timing irregularity was one of the first things that made us "think through" the inversion that was being put on us.
Testing for Ecoli and Coliform Bacteria
The test provides present / absent status for ecoli and Coliform. Obviously Ecoli is bad. As mentioned prior, it has not been found in this system since 1971 to our knowledge.
As for Coliform, quoting from the MCHD paper work, "Coliform Bacteria are a group of organism, found in plant and soil material, which are used as indicators to detect the presence of more harmful organisms".
No testing is done for quantity found. There is a magical threshold used for present/absent that is unknown to us at this time.
Treatment for Coliform Bacteria
Prophylactic Treatment - We typically add 1 gallon of chlorine to the tank and a half gallon to the well every two months for prophylactic treatment. We do not send out notices when that's done. If you sense or smell chlorine it was done recently. it is not enough chlorine that it should affect your laundry.
In response to a Failed Test notice from Monterey County - When a Quarterly Test shows positive for Coliform Bacteria the water should only be used for bathing and cleaning, not drinking unless an appropriate filter you have provided for yourself, at your residence, is in use.
Because the Well Company does not promise potable water to start with, a failed coliform bacteria result creates no change in suggested use from the Well Owners perspective.
The treatment starts by putting 1 gallon of bleach in the storage tank and a half gallon of bleach into the well. The next step is to attempt to fill the main line of the system to each home with chlorinated water to remove the Bacteria. That is then followed by a system flush that simply runs out the chlorinated water from the system.
While Chlorine is in the system it might affect laundry although that the level involved that is unlikely
Notification of quarterly test results
We don't send out notices if the quarterly testing says the system is out of compliance, because you all are to always assume it is out of compliance for your safety and ours. if there is something exceptional or extreme you will be provided notice.
Please contact bryan@bryancanary.com if you have questions or need more information.