Fall Water Leak

For the past summer there has been a small water leak down the street from where I live. I have called it in several times to 311, but alas, nothing has been done. When I called it in again today the 311 operator told me that there is a work order out on this leak, but that it is a "cold" case. A "Cold" case is one of least importance.

The unusually hot summer has lead to some serious upheaval all over the City, and the old and worn pipes under our great City have been bursting all over. Just this morning a larger main break occurred on Main Street at Arbor Villa Park. Fearful that this would surely create a disaster for the Armour Hills Ice Cream Social tonight, I called that one in and they crew is already here working on it.

Priorities are a tricky matter in a bureaucracy.

69th Terrace Spring

Yet another water main broke on 69th Terrace just east of Brookside Road. A steady stream of water was flowing into the stormwater drain. Around the source of the water it appeared as though someone from the KCMO Water Department had been there and marked the street already.

I called in the break, and within a week a crew had come to fix the problem. As occassionally happens there was a delay between the first crew that fixes the leak, and the second crew that finishes the job. The gravel pit that remained blocked a private driveway, and I called 311 again to file a complaint.

It took another week or so, but shortly thereafter the final crew cam out to wrap it up.

Spring Water Leaks



When the cold earth finally begins to thaw in Kansas City, it expands, and for the City's old water pipes, that mean leaks. Lots of them. It is the same story every Fall when the warm soil begins to contract and the ground shifts ever so slightly.

Moving from Los Angeles where water is a precious resource and nearly 60% of it is brought in from outside the region via aqueducts (thank you Colorado River, Owens River Valley, and Northern California), I have a real problem seeing water being waster. Not only is it a waste of money and energy, but a waste of our most precious resource.

As I walked to my part-time volunteer job down Main Street to the Children's Place, I spotted a few water leaks. One of them close to the early childhood charity has already been repaired, the other has been marked by the Water Department, but nothing has been done yet...