Point Reyes Light - November 18, 2004
100,000 gallons of water goes down Stinson toilet
By Jim Kravets
A leaking toilet has cost a Stinson Beach couple $2,000 in water bills. Robert and Patricia Major, who divide their time between San Francisco and Stinson Beach, requested leniency from the water district board when more than 100,000 gallons of water literally went down the toilet of their Stinson Beach home over a two-month billing cycle last summer.
"The float broke off in the toilet," Mrs. Major told The Light. "Water was gushing through the pipe." The couple has had a home at the same location on Calle Del Embarcadero for 44 years, Mrs. Major said, "But we’re not there much. There have been months and years when we’ve had zero water consumption."
$2,000 down the toilet
Mrs. Major estimates that the loss occurred during a three week period in August. An alert meter-reader eventually noted the unusual usage and turned off the water to the house.
"We are retired. I’m almost 80," said Mrs. Major. "We’re not able to pay a $2,000 water bill. My husband and I both come from small towns in Texas where water is scarce. We know about water conservation. But there was a general feeling [among the district directors] that we should be punished."
In a 4-1 vote, district directors declined the couple’s request to reduce the bill. "We don’t have the ability to give a fee reduction for toilet leaks," Joseph Veit, board president told The Light. "If the water loss is beyond their control, in the case of an external line, then a 50 percent reduction or more is possible, historically. But if it’s in their control we don’t give a reduction."
Director Charles Dutkin, whose term ends in January, was the lone vote in support of a 50 percent reduction in the Major’s bill.
‘Just a sad situation’
"No one won anything," Mrs. Major lamented. "The city lost water and we didn’t get anything either. Basically, it’s just a very sad situation." District directors did unanimously approved a motion to allow the Majors a three-year installment option to pay the bill.
Veit said he is compassionate yet firm in his protection of the town’s water, a finite resource he said is the most precious. "We’re not playing treehugger by any extent. We’d like to give all their money back. I can’t tell you how many notices we’ve sent out to warn people about water loss and conservation.
"The district has 715 water meters and two or three leaks can empty us out," he said. "We have to be hard-nosed about it."
In summer 2000, an untended spigot on a vacant Panoramic Highway lot drained 320,000 gallons from a district tank resulting in a $7,650 bill for the lot owner. The bill was ultimately reduced by 75 percent, as the current, stricter conservation regulations had not yet then been approved by the district.
Stinson Beach’s storage tanks refill slowly from local aquifers. After busy summer weekends, it can often take until Wednesday for the tanks to refill.
Was equivalent to half a day’s production
"The amount of water that falls in our 1.7-square-mile catchment basin is all we get," Veit explained. "After that we’re trucking [water] in. "The Major’s leak lost 106,000 gallons; that’s 50 percent of our daily production capacity and 10 percent of our total storage capacity." The district reserves 30 percent of their storage capacity (300,000 gallons) at all times for fire protection.
To avoid situations such as the Major’s, Veit urges absentee owners to shut off their water when they leave and check their meters for system leaks. "It’s more difficult if you have irrigation," he conceded. Veit also encourages property owners to have an attachment installed onto water meters that makes them easy to read and notice a leak. The attachment costs $150 installed, Veit said, and is available through the district office.
Mrs. Major had another suggestion. "Maybe there could be a computer monitoring system that would sound an alert in a case like this." According to Mrs. Major, Palo Alto has such a system. "It’s like on your credit card, if there’s unusual activity they alert you. Don’t know if Stinson is big enough and can afford it. But it would prevent a runaway situation like this in the future."