News : Water, water...somewhere

For the first time I chuckeled when I read through the information for Thursday night's council meeting. There was a page that said, "Water Loss Report." Well, I just had to ask, how does THAT happen?

Last year, Vinton pumped 184,700,000 gallons of water, billing out 129,775,000 gallons.

Water that is not billed included:

Hydrant flushing 1,500,000

Water main breaks 605,000

Fire Department 270,000

Cleaning Sewer Mains 500,000

3 Dead Ends Flushings 660,000

Automatic Flusher @County Home 12,960,000

Automatic Flusher @Anderson Creek 3,240,000

Main leak at 8th St. and 4th Ave. 7,710,00

I had to ask Craig Walker, who oversees the water for the city, "How does that even happen?" He said that there can be several culprits. "Old meters or meters that are stuck, small water leaks that go unnoticed, or ..." well I guess if he knew, it wouldn't be missing now would it?

He said that the DNR prefers that the amount be as low as possible but a 15-20% loss is considered acceptable or common. "Obviously, we are always looking for leaks and any way to account for the loss."

So now you and I have learned something new. Sometimes water goes missing!

The water department is also making visits to homes to complete the "copper piping survey" that they must submit by October. The department just need to see what kind of pipes are supplying water to your home. (Please let them in if they come knocking!) To see the story about that, click HERE.