Underground water leaks can result in stratospheric bills and a huge waste of water. Yet cities often take their sweet time to notify the public while professing their water conservation efforts. According to the South Salt Lake water department, my underground leak started on July 6.
I’ll spare you the suspense. They notified me almost two months later, on Aug. 28! By then, I had already reported the leak myself on Aug. 23 after a wet spot suddenly appeared between the sidewalk and the street.
We live in a very dry state and, on paper, South Salt Lake is very keen on saving water. Its website says that the city has converted to electronic meters to ensure real-time monitoring. Someone must have been asleep at the switch. Two months doesn’t seem like real-time monitoring. It’s inexcusable! 170,000 gallons later (77,000 in July and 93,000 in August), I’m stuck with a huge bill. By comparison, my normal monthly water use (June-September) is 17,000 gallons. Imagine the amount of water wasted in underground leaks throughout the Wasatch Front. Water is either a precious resource or cities are incredibly hypocritical and too eager to take our money while preaching conservation.
Fortunately, the solution already exists. Jordan Valley Water District allows its customers to set notification preferences of excessive water use on the jvwcd.org website. As soon as these preferences are exceeded, an email notification is sent. Its customers can also view a dashboard of their daily water use at mywater.jvwcd.org.
Water departments should be required by the state to do the same: to set up automatic notification systems based on their customers’ preferences; to closely monitor excessive water use; and to notify customers in a matter of days, not months, instead of paying lip service to conservation.
Elena Cook, Salt Lake City
