PRAIRIE GROVE -- City Water Department employees will put their ears to the ground to try to find the source of a water leak.
On the average, the city of Prairie Grove loses about 24 percent of its water annually, according to Larry Oelrich, director of administrative services and public works.
Some of this waste is the result of the processes used by the city's sewer plant. Other water loss happens because of older water meters. Older meters slow down and do not register all of a customer's water use. To combat this, the city replaces meters on a regular basis.
Water loss, however, has been running about 32 percent, or 50,000 gallons a day, and city officials want to find out why.
City workers found two leaks at the first of the year, one a major leak where the city was losing 100,000 gallons a day. After searching for the source of the large leak for about two weeks, Oelrich placed a plea on the city's Facebook page, asking residents if they were noticing lower water pressure or any other clues that might point to the source of a water leak.
"Apparently something was going on and we couldn't find it," Oelrich said.
Through the Facebook post, the city was able to isolate the problem on Stonewall Road. The leak was the result of a split in the water line.
On the second leak, the city lucked out, Oelrich said, because crews working in a certain area heard the running water.
However, there apparently is another leak still out there.
The next step the water department will try is to turn off water valves in newer neighborhoods during the middle of the night so that employees can listen for running water.
Employees will work from midnight to 6 a.m. when it is quiet and residents are not using water. Oelrich said the city will turn off water in neighborhoods that have been built since the 1970s. Newer subdivisions have only two or three valves and it is easier to isolate a leak.
"We will be able to isolate a lot of territory by doing that," Oelrich said. "We will either find something or we won't. You put your ear to the valve wrench and it transmits the sound. It's real obvious. You can tell when water is running through it."
In the course of a year, the city will lose about 30 million gallons of water at 24 percent loss. With a 32 percent waste, the city is losing 170 million gallons in a year's time, Oelrich said.
General News on 03/29/2017