Bennett Ridge Mutual Water Company

Conservation & SMART Water Usage

How to Conserve Water Usage

The Board of Directors continues to support strong efforts to conserve our precious water supply. The company’s two wells continue to produce at good volumes but well levels have declined steadily over the past couple of decades. The decline is not precipitous, but is a good reminder that water conservation needs to be everyone’s priority.

The use of water supplied by the BRMWC to the members is limited to water for domestic purposes, for use in a swimming pool and for irrigation of not more than ten percent (10%) of the area of a parcel. (See the BRMWC Bylaws Article XI for further details.)

Water use is typically highest in the June through September months. Tiered water rates and the use of Smart Meters have supported individuals in further controlling their billing and water usage.

Reading Your Water Meter

You should know the location of your water meter and know how to inspect it.

SMART Meter Eye on Water (EOW)

The majority of the community’s water meters are equipped with a smart meter that collects water use data and meter readings from individual water meters and uploads that data to an administrative website via the cellular network. This data is available to the property owner and to BRMWC. Owners can then monitor water usage daily and BRMWC can obtain meter readings for quarterly billing—all available electronically without the need to visit the water meter itself. Owners can also set up “leak alerts” that will send an email or text notification when the smart meter sees continuous flow for 24 hours. BRMWC can use the administrative site to monitor water use system-wide, including identifying properties with continuous or unusually high flow.

To get started:

1. Go to eyeonwater.com/signup and create your account. You’ll need your service zip code (95404) and your account number (provided by the BRMWC Administrative Manager). Enter your email address and create a password for your account. Confirm your email address, and the smart meter will start uploading water use data approximately 24 hours after installation. You now have access to your water usage data via your web browser.
2. Set up leak alerts. Click on “Edit Leak Alert” in the upper left of the EOW window. Follow the prompts to select “intermittent flow” meter, add email address(es) where you would like to receive alerts about a potential leak on your system and the frequency with which you’ll receive reminders about the potential leak (daily, every 2 days or 3 days). You’ll also be asked to set the threshold for generating a leak alert, in gallons-per-hour over a continuous 24-hour period. For example, setting your alert at 1 GPH means that a flow of at least 1 gallon per hour over a continuous 24 hour period will trigger an alert. A higher number will require a higher continuous flow to trigger the alert. The lower the number, the more sensitive the system will be to small leaks. Click “save” at the last prompt, and you’re all set.
3. Download the mobile app. Go to the iTunes Store or Android Store and search for “EyeOnWater” and download the app for your smartphone and/or tablet. Log in with your email address and password. Be sure to allow the EOW app to send you leak notifications on your mobile device. Keep in mind that while the smart meter collects data continuously, it only uploads every 24 hours, so you have to wait to see the most recent data.

Emergency Response

Help With Determining a Water Leak

If EyeOnWater sent you a Leak Alert, there are a few things you can do before calling a plumber. The first is to perform a simple test to verify that water is flowing when it shouldn’t be.

1. Turn off all of your faucets both outside and inside the house, and make sure you are not running any appliances that use water (dishwashers, washing machines, ice makers, etc.).
2. Look at the dial on your water meter. If the numbers on its dial are moving or if the water meter has a leak indicator and it is spinning, you have a leak. (See Reading Your Meter section for more).

The next step is to locate the source and approximate location of the leak.

1. Visually inspect your home and property for obvious signs of a leak.

Inside–Dripping faucets, puddles near appliances that use water (refrigerators with ice makers, washing machines, hot water heaters, water softeners, etc.), wet spots on a ceiling or wall, etc.
Outside–Pools of standing water where there shouldn’t be any water, unusually soft or soggy spots in the ground, patches of lawn that are deeper green than surrounding areas, etc.
2. Listen for leaks. Some leaks take place out of sight, for example, by flowing into drains, behind walls and underground. Carefully listen to your water pipes, appliances and even your toilet tank. If you hear a faint hissing sound, you may have found a leak. Keep in mind that you may have more than one leak, so be sure to inspect as many potential leak sources as you can.
3. Use your sense of smell. Leaks are a common cause of mold growth around the edges of bathtubs, under kitchen sinks, in walls and sub-flooring and other out-of-the-way places that make them difficult to see but easy to smell.

When it comes to narrowing down possible causes, EyeOnWater may be able help. For example, both the website and smartphone app versions of EyeOnWater display the latest flow rate of currently active leaks.

• “Latest flow rate” means the amount of water loss per hour.
• Smaller water leak amounts  of about 0.1 to 5 gallons (0.4 to 19 liters) per hour can usually be attributed to dripping indoor or outdoor faucets. Medium water leak amounts of between 5 and up to 20 gallons (19 to 75 liters) per hour could be a leaky toilet or a leaking connection between a water pipe and an appliance.
• Medium-sized water leaks could also be the result of a running faucet.
• Still larger leak amounts of 20 or more gallons (75 liters) per hour might indicate a problem with an irrigation system or aging, galvanized water pipes. Remember, these are merely possibilities intended to help you narrow down potential causes.

Common sources of leaks in a household include but are not limited to:

• Water faucets–leaky faucets are typically caused by worn gaskets.
• Water hoses–Rubber hoses can crack as they age. Continued exposure to the elements can damage garden hoses and the plastic tubing of drip irrigation systems. Washing machine hoses are another potential source of significant water loss and—on the rare occasion they burst— property damage.
• Toilets–There are a number of ways that toilets can leak. For example, when the tank doesn’t fill completely, water will run continuously. Sometimes jiggling the flush handle will correct the situation. Slow leaks sometimes develop between the tank and the bowl, between the water supply fitting to the toilet or when flappers are no longer seated correctly. A flapper is the device at the bottom of the tank that prevents water from flowing into the bowl until the toilet is flushed. If your toilet is leaking at its base, it could be because its bolts aren’t fully tightened or because the seal between its base and floor has been damaged.
• Broken irrigation lines and water pipes–Sprinkler and Irrigation system pipes can become damaged. Tree roots and debris can clog and break water pipes. Freezing weather followed by heat spells can burst or damage pipes above or below ground, causing significant water loss and property damage.
• Pools with auto fill valve – Occasionally, the float or optical sensor on a pool auto fill valve can get ‘stuck’ resulting in a leak being reported on your Smart meter.

For these and other reasons, it is important to fix leaks as quickly as possible.

For more on fixing leaks, see WaterSense from the Environmental Protection Agency.

Leak Relief

All property owners in the Bennett Ridge Community are at risk of developing water leaks. Since water is a valuable and limited resource on Bennett Ridge, property owners are financially responsible for all of their water use, including water use resulting from leaks on the property side of the meter. To avoid costly leaks and water waste, all owners should monitor their water use regularly to identify any excessive water use. Monitoring can be accomplished by periodically checking the water meter or, for properties with a smart meter, setting up automated leak alerts and checking water use with the “Eye On Water” app. Most leaks occur on the main supply line between the meter and house or on some portion of the irrigation system.

Accidental leaks can occur despite a property owner’s best efforts and may not be detected right away. Accordingly, the BRMWC Board will consider granting a one-time adjustment to the member’s water bill under certain circumstances. Requests for adjustment must meet all of the following criteria:

• The property owner must demonstrate that they took immediate steps to stop excess water use, such as shutting off water at the meter or isolating the portion of their water system where the leak is occurring. 

• The owner must demonstrate that the source of the leak has been located and fully repaired. 

• Each property owner is eligible for a leak-related water bill adjustment one time only. In certain situations a single leak may occur over two billing periods, in which case the BRMWC Board may consider a water bill adjustment for one or both billing periods. 

• All adjustment requests must be approved by a majority vote of the BRMWC Board. In considering a request for adjustment, the Board will consider conformance with the mandatory criteria listed above and whether the member has diligently pursued efforts to eliminate water waste.

When approved by the Board, adjustments to a member’s water bill pursuant to this policy shall consist of applying a water rate that is capped at the highest rate tier for that property during the same quarter in the previous year or Tier 2, whichever is higher.

Members requesting a bill adjustment shall do so in an email or letter to the BRMWC Administrative Manager. The request must describe the situation encountered and address the owner’s compliance with the criteria listed above.