RMWD Board to sue manufacturers of faulty chlorination system

The Board of Directors of the Rainbow Municipal Water District (RMWD) recently met in closed session and authorized its general counsel to file suit against MIOX Corporation, Engineered Systems and Construction, Inc. and Dudek & Associates, Inc. The District retained the services of an expert to analyze the factors contributing to the selection, sizing and purchase of the faulty MIOX systems. The suit will seek damages for the failure of the MIOX onsite chlorination systems installed at several reservoirs to meet the needs of the District.

The District believes errors were made by the District’s hired professionals in the selection, design and installation of the systems. In addition, the systems installed experienced numerous equipment failures. At the Board’s direction, the District’s attorneys initially (but unsuccessfully) tried to obtain tolling agreements from the parties, allowing time to resolve the issues.

“The District remains committed to working with the parties to resolve these issues,” stated Greg Moser, general counsel for the District. “The District did not want to resort to litigation, but it is not fair to make the District’s ratepayers bear the cost of fixing the systems when the errors were made by professionals already paid by the District.”

The District initially agreed to spend over a million dollars to install the MIOX onsite chlorination systems in order to replace the gaseous chlorine systems, which were outdated and potentially hazardous. The District may need to spend another million to upgrade the systems, not counting upgrades that resulted from demands from the Department of Health Services.

Meanwhile, the District wants to assure its customers that it has always taken the steps necessary to ensure a safe drinking water supply. For further information, contact Greg Moser at (619) 234-6655.