California Water News Daily Your Source For Water News in California
In Northern California, water agencies have to estimate how much water is being wasted due to leaky pipes. They have to estimate because only part of the region has water meters. In the Sacramento Suburban Water District, only 75 percent of the 46,112 connections have meters. As the California drought continues, water agency officials are struggling to meet Governor Jerry Brown’s mandated water cutbacks. There’s no way for them to know if they’ve made significant cuts.
According to a report by the Sacramento Bee, it is estimated that one in 10 gallons of water is wasted because of leaky pipes.
“We don’t know if we’re over 10 percent. We could be. We could be at one percent,” Rob Roscoe, general manager of the Sacramento Suburban Water District, told the Sacramento Bee. “I don’t think so because we’ve got a lot of old mains. The point is, we don’t know exactly where we are until we’re fully metered.”
To help combat the California drought, Sacramento has begun replacing water mains that are 60 to 100 years old. They have also begun installing meters, which should be completed by 2018. Crews have started using technology to detect leaky pipes throughout the city, something that should help improve water waste.
California Senators Lois Wolk (D-Vacaville) and Fran Pavley (D-Calabasas) cosponsored Senate Bill 555, which would require water agencies to audit their annual water loss and publicly disclose the findings. Currently, the bill has been approved by the Senate and is undergoing approval in the Assembly.
