What is a water service pipe and who owns it?

My water bill is unusually high this month.  What is the cause?

How much water does an average person use?

How does the City treat the drinking water?

How “hard” is the water?

There is reddish brown colored water coming out of my faucet.  What do I do?

What is a water service pipe and who owns it?

Drinking water is distributed in the City through a series of underground pipes.  The pipes generally are of two different types:  water main and water service pipe.  The water main is usually located adjacent to a street and includes fire hydrants and valves.  It is owned by the City.  Water service pipes connect the water main with homes and businesses.  Water service pipe includes the underground pipe from the water main to the home or business and three valves.  The three valves are a corporation stop, which is a valve connecting the water service pipe to the water main, a curb stop, which is a valve in the water service line between the water main and the home or business, and an interior stop, which is a valve inside the home or business near where the water service pipe enters.  The water service pipe, including the three valves, is owned by the property owner of the home or business.  As owner of the water service pipe, the property owner is responsible for all costs and expenses for the installation, connection and maintenance of the water service pipe.

My water bill is unusually high this month.  What is the cause?

The monthly bill that you received from the City is now termed a utility bill.  That term is used because the bill includes a garbage collection fee, storm water fee, water usage fee and sanitary sewer fee.  The garbage collection fee and the storm water fee will not change from one month to the next unless the City Council approves an alteration in the fees.  The water usage fee and the sanitary sewer fee are based on the amount of water used during the month.  A water meter, generally located on the water service pipe inside of the home or business, measures the amount of water used.  The water meter is read monthly by the City.

An unusually high water bill may result from one or more of the following:

• Additional indoor water use during the month that may have resulted from house guests or visiting family members using additional water for showers or other sanitary purposes during the month.

• Additional outdoor water use during the month such as car washing or lawn irrigation.

• Water leak at a point after the water has passed through the water meter.  One of the common locations of water leaks in a home or business is a bathroom toilet.  A faulty valve in a toilet can permit water to pass through it and into the sanitary sewer without any external evidence of leaking.  If a leaking toilet is suspected, it can be checked by at least two methods.  The first is placing a few drops of food coloring in the toilet tank.  If the valve is leaking, the colored water will enter the toilet bowl without flushing.  A second method is to record the water meter reading in the evening after all water use for the day ceases.  The following morning record the meter reading.  Make sure that a water softener did not cycle during the night.  If the readings are different, a toilet may have leaked and registered water use during the night.

How much water does an average person use?

Water use varies by the individual.  As an average, individual water use for consumption, cooking, showers, and other sanitary and home uses is approximately 60 gallons per day.  When commercial and industrial water use are added to the individual usage, the result is approximately 125 gallons per day per person.  The City’s approximately 10,000 residents use an approximate average of 1,250,000 gallons of water per day.

How does the City treat the drinking water?

The City’s water treatment plant filters iron and manganese from the raw water.  Following filtration, the water is treated with chlorine as a disinfectant, fluoride to protect against tooth decay and corrosion inhibitor before it is discharged into the distribution system for use.

How “hard” is the water?

Hardness is the amount of dissolved minerals in the water.  Because the City’s drinking water has been withdrawn from an underground aquifer, it has had contact with underground mineral deposits resulting in the opportunity to dissolve some.  The hardness of the City’s drinking water varies somewhat but generally averages 400 parts per million.  This converts to approximately 23 grains.

There is reddish brown colored water coming out of my faucet.  What do I do?

The reddish brown color is probably the result of “rust” in the water.  The rust color is caused by oxidized iron in solution with the water.  Prior to 1996, water was pumped into the distribution system without filtration.  Oxidized iron in the water during that time was deposited on the interior walls of the water main.  Since 1996, iron has been filtered from the drinking water, but much of the deposits in the water main remain.  Despite annual programs to flush the rust from the interior of the water mains, there is still some residual.  The rust will re-enter the water from the interior walls of the water main when water velocities are increased.  Water velocity increases during high water usage events such as a fire or water main break.

If rust colored water is observed in a home or business the first step is to determine whether it is in a cold water fixture, hot water or both.  A suggested procedure to follow based on the determination is as follows:

•  Cold water only.  Attempt to avoid using any hot water until the rusty water is clear.  This will help prevent the rusty water from entering the hot water heater.  If hot water use cannot be avoided, the water heater may need to be drained following clearing of the cold water.  To clear the cold water, attempt to flush the home or business system through an exterior faucet.  If the water does not become clear during flushing, contact the City to check the water main and flush if necessary.

• Hot water only.  If only the hot water is rusty, the cause may be the water heater.  It is recommended that a plumber be contacted to check the heater.

• Cold and hot water.  The rusty water may have entered the home or business as cold water and entered the hot water heater during use of hot water.  Follow the procedure for cold water only.  Following clearing the cold water, drain or flush the hot water heater.