Turn Your Water Off!

Just a quick reminder that if you are leaving your mountain home, please turn your water off at your customer valve when you leave.  This will prevent any leaks from frozen or broken pipes in your absence.
While it is important to turn your water off any time you leave your mountain home, it is especially important when there is a danger of freezing temperatures.  Leaks and broken pipes can and do  occur year round, but when there are freezing temperatures, it can cause pipes to freeze and break.  If your water is not turned off, this could cause a lot of problems, damage and waste a lot of water. 

Remember, you are responsible for all the water that runs through your meter, regardless of why it ran through.  So if none of the above reasons are incentive enough for you to turn your water off, then perhaps the thought of paying for water that ran and ran and ran from a leak will be.

Leaks can occur anywhere along a water line inside your house our out.  Leaks aren't always visible from the street either.  They can be underground and not visible or inside the house, where no one can see them.  We ready meters every other month, so that is generally when we find evidence of them.  However, a lot of water can be lost during that time.  We have no way to monitor the water usage at each home here in Pine Cove and unless someone sees or hears water running, leaks can sometimes go undetected for long periods of time.

Don't let this happen to you!  It only takes a minute to turn your water off and prevent all of the above problems.

Whatever your motivation, please heed our advice and turn your water off each and every time you leave your mountain home.  It is so much better to prevent a disastrous leak than to deal with one upon returning to your mountain home.

 Turn your water off at your customer valve when  you leave your mountain home!

Monday Musings

How is your summer going so far?  It is the last week of July and summer is flying on by.  Hope you are having a good one.  Everything is pretty quiet here the water district.  We are keeping busy working though as there is always something to do here.  We are still giving out $25 gift certificates to your restaurant of choice if you spot a leak and report it.  So keep your eyes peeled, even though it is summer.  Leaks can happen at anytime, so we must always be vigilant.  If you spot one, just give us a call and we will go check it out.  If it is a leak, we will go pick up your gift certificate and give it to you. 

As always, we would like to remind everyone to turn their water off at their customer valve when they leave their mountain home.  Leaks don't take a vacation or only happen in the winter, so an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, as they say.  Isn't it better to be safe than sorry?  It only takes a minute to do and can avert a potential disaster.  If you do not know where your customer valve is, please call the office at 951-659-2675 during normal business hours, and we will send one of the boys out to show you where it is and how to turn it on and off.  Everyone should know where they customer shut off valve is.

If you have any other questions about your water service or billing, please feel free to call us or stop by the office.  We will be happy to help you in any way we can.

Leaks again....

Even though the weather is warming up, there is still the chance of developing a leak.  While freezing pipes aren't an issue at this time of the year, other things can and do go wrong.  Now is a good time to check your outdoor irrigation system if you have one.  In fact, why not have a look at all your exposed pipes?  Better to spot a problem early on and fix it than to have a leak develop.

As always, we recommend that you turn your water off at your customer valve if you leave your mountain home.  This is the single most important thing you can do to prevent a catastrophic water loss due to a leak.  I know we sound like a broken record by saying this, but it never fails that someone develops a leak and doesn't find out about it until after the fact.  One never knows when a pipe is going to break or develop a leak and while you are away is not the time you want that to happen.  If you water is turned off, then no water damage can be done.  Remember, you are responsible for all the water that runs through your meter, regardless of why.  Many people mistakenly feel that if they develop a leak, they shouldn't have to pay for the water that was lost.  I am not sure where that idea comes from, but our board has not adopted a policy to forgive water bills for catastrophic losses.  So even if you have no other motivation to turn your water off when you leave, think of it as a financial decision!

We are still giving a reward of a $25 gift certificate to anyone who finds and reports a leak to us.  We have had several awarded so far this year, so keep your eyes peeled.  It is beneficial for all of us to be water aware.  While there are springs popping up all over Pine Cove due to the wet winter we had, it is best to call us and let us go check it out if you aren't sure.  Who knows, you could be having lunch on us!

Friday Reminders

Just some quick reminders for you today.  The water district will be closed on Monday, February 22 for President's Day.  However, we always have someone on call for emergencies.   We will be open on Tuesday, February 23 from 9 to 4, as per usual. 

We are expecting snow today.  I have read wildly varying reports though, so I am not sure what is accurate and what isn't.  One report calls for over a foot of snow here in Pine Cove and another one predicts just a few inches.  Hmmmm..... which one to believe.  I don't know, but it is better to be safe than sorry, so I will prepare for the worst and hope for the best. 

No matter what happens, stay safe.  Don't go out and drive in the storm unless it is absolutely necessary.  The older I get, the more I realize that there really is very little that is urgent enough to make me drive in a storm.  In my younger days I didn't think much about it.  I even got stranded once in the middle of a snow storm and it really didn't faze me much.   I got a ride home and the tow truck eventually found my car.  If I had the good sense then that I have now, I would not have even set foot outside that evening.  Live and learn!  As they say, "Youth is wasted on the young", but that is whole 'nother post. 

Luckily, I know better now.  So don't be out driving in the storm unless it is absolutely necessary.  Also if you are off the hill, please wait until the storm has subsided and the roads are cleared before making your way up the hill.

 As always, frozen pipes are a concern when we have the cold temps like we have been experiencing the past few nights.  Make sure all your outside hoses are disconnected.  We have several winterizing tips on the left side of the blog, down the page towards the bottom.  Frozen pipes are never fun, so act now to prevent them.

If you are leaving your mountain home, please turn the water off at your customer valve! 

This is the single most important thing you can do to protect your home while you are away.  January's leaks were proof positive that turning off your water can prevent disastrous leaks from occurring while you are away from your mountain home.  We had two customers experience very large leaks and several others experience smaller leaks.  But a leak is a leak and they are no fun to deal with.  Prevention is easier than the cure in this case.  It only takes a couple minutes.  Just remember as you are leaving to turn off that water valve.

If you do not know where your customer shut off valve is, please call us at 951-659-2675 and we will be happy to come out, during normal business hours, and show you where it is and how to turn it off.  I know we keep reiterating this point and sound like a broken record, but January's leaks just prove our point.  So until everyone complies and turns off their water when they leave, we have to keep singing the same song.