Helping Neighbors

July 28. While walking my dog, I noticed a lot of water flowing from a lawn into the street at a house near my residence. I rang the doorbell to ask if the homeowner knew about it. She said she had called the City. The water was flowing from the grass between the curb and the sidewalk.

A week later the water was still running, and there was no evidence of repairs. No disturbance of the grass. No cones from the City Water Dept.

August 15. Saturday. I emailed the City Water Dept. to request attention to the repair. 

August 18. Tuesday. When there was no evidence of a visit by the City Water Dept., I called them and asked that the repair be escalated. The water continued to flow at a good rate. The operator noted the prior request (from the resident) and combined the two.

August 19. Wednesday. A Water Dept. employee must have inspected the leak, because a diagram was spray-painted in the street, pointing toward the leak.

August 24. Monday. I called the City Water Dept. again (water still running down the street) and asked for a supervisor to contact the homeowner and advise when repairs would be made.

August 26. Wednesday. A City crew showed with with a backhoe and three pick-up trucks. The repair was made; the hole was filled in with ugly, black, asphalt-looking material, and all the dirt and mud are still in the street.

August 29 On Saturday the street is still dirty.

I'm wondering whether the Water Dept. will return to hose down the street and restore the homeowner's lawn. If she needs help, will the HOA or the Voting Member help her?

How much City water was wasted? If the flow-rate was three gallons/minute, a lot of water literally went down the drain. 3 gal./min. x 60 min.//hr. x 24 hrs./day x 32 days = 138,240 gallons.

Comments

  1. GusSeptember 14, 2020 at 9:01 AM

    Sept. 14, 2020 The City has not returned to restore the homeowner's lawn or to hose the street. Email sent today to City (Columbia) Water Dept. to complete work on Service Request 494578 and to clean the street.

    Would ask the HOA to help the homeowner, but they'd probably just send her a nastygram and start the Fine Clock ticking.

    ReplyDelete

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