Avalon Looking Into Fresh-Water Flushes

Avalon officials are investigating what the developers of the luxurious Hamilton Cove condominium project are flushing down the toilet.

During a random inspection Wednesday, city workers found fresh water in the toilet of a condominium unit, an apparent violation of the city’s requirement that salt water be used in toilets.

Fresh water is at a premium on arid Santa Catalina Island, and the city prohibits its use for flushing in all private homes and businesses with access to a salt-water flushing system. Sparse rainfall for the past two years has caused low water levels in the island’s Middle Ranch Reservoir, further limiting the availability of fresh water.

But the problem at Hamilton Cove may be the result of a mix-up between the city and the developer, Bell Canada Enterprises Development, according to a superintendent for Southern California Edison, which regulates water on the island.

Keith Lefevre, an Edison superintendent, said the developer had advised Edison earlier this year that they were temporarily using fresh water for flushing throughout the complex because a sea water pump had failed.

On July 29, the developer notified Edison that repairs were completed, and they were reverting to sea water, Lefevre said. Because the changeover was so recent, some fresh water may still be left in the flushing system, he said.

But Assistant City Manager Pete Woolson said the developer should have notified the city of the switch. Woolson, who is also the city’s planning director, said the temporary changeover “wasn’t done with my knowledge or with the public works director’s knowledge. . . . We’re still uncomfortable with their switching back and forth between salt water and fresh.”

Woolson said the city sent a letter to the developer Thursday asking for proof within 10 days that toilets in the complex are operating on the salt-water flushing system. About 130 units are occupied in the planned 330-unit project, he said.

Kenneth Klopp, president of the Hamilton Cove Development Corp., said the complex periodically switches from salt to fresh water on a temporary basis during certain construction phases.

“We’re putting in some wells for the salt water, and we switch from salt water to fresh water for four or five hours,” Klopp said.

The developer has always been “straight forward” in notifying Edison officials about what kind of water has been going down Hamilton Cove toilets, Lefevre said.

“I don’t think anything is being done that isn’t on the up and up.”