LeakBird

(Jan. 12, 2009, The Modesto Bee)

From his desk in City Hall, Michael Cooke can tell if your toilet is running or if your automatic sprinklers have gone haywire.

Cooke is testing new software designed to track the water use of 17,000 Turlockers, then alert the biggest water hogs what they’ll pay once the city starts billing by usage by the end of 2009.

The city’s municipal services department sent letters to more than 1,000 residents, some of whom use up to 10 times more water on landscaping per square foot than is used on some city parks.

The threat of paying by the gallon already has driven many to change their ways. Cooke also hears plenty of excuses from water-happy customers, but his numbers don’t lie.

“I’ve talked to people and they say, ‘I only had the hose on for a few minutes,’ ” Cooke said. “But you can see on the computer it’s two or three hours.”

In 2008, water use declined 3 percent even as the city’s population increased. It was once common to see a 6 percent increase in the number of gallons used.

Central Valley cities — including Modesto and Turlock — are among the last in California to install meters and begin charging customers based on usage as opposed to a flat rate. By contrast, every home in Los Angeles had a meter by 1905, according to The Los Angeles Times.

Modesto plans to meter all of its roughly 76,000 water customers by 2019, just ahead of a 2025 state deadline. Turlock will have all of its 17,000 customers on metered billing by Jan. 1, 2010 — the date when cities must begin volume-based billing where meters are installed.

Currently, Turlock charges a flat fee based on lot size and number of rooms in the residence. So one resident could leave a hose running and take marathon showers while paying the same monthly fee as a water-conscious neighbor with the same type of property. The average flat-rate fee is $32 per month.

Modesto provides water for people living in the city, and for those living in areas such as Waterford and Grayson. Customers pay an average of $37 to $63 based on lot size and location.

Past resistance to meters dates back to the days when the Central Valley had access to ample groundwater and only a small population to serve, said Nick Pinhey, Modesto’s public works director.

“The thought was you have an almost unlimited supply,” Pinhey said. “There wasn’t a need to really meter it for purposes of conservation.”

But with rapid population growth and greater demand over the past decade, that notion has changed, he said.

“People begin to realize we’re dealing with a finite supply here,” Pinhey said.

All of Turlock’s residential meters have been retrofitted with a transmitter that sends data on the amount of water used each month, even each hour, directly to the city’s billing system.

But city officials don’t expect to see skyrocketing bills. During winter months, customers might pay less with a metered bill, around $25, said utilities specialist Dan Wilde.

In the hot months, they’ll likely pay more, about $40 to $50, Wilde said.

For now, Cooke and his team will keep watching the leaks and counseling people who are upset at the thought of a metered bill. There’s no need to pave over lawns, he said.

“You can still have nice landscaping and use a minimal amount of water,” Cooke said. “It can be done.”

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