A crew from an Austin leak detection service continues to “scope out” Rockdale’s water system this week, the first project of its long-awaited overhaul.
SAMCO employees Tim Teddovich, Hunter Skelton and Tayelar Sheridan have been taking readings and listening for the past week along Rockdale streets, and in yards, to identify the first targets for line replacement in what will be a multi-million-dollar project.
City Manager Barbara Holly said the SAMCO findings will allow the city to identify specific locations of leaks in the city’s failing water system.
She said the survey will prioritize replacement by type of pipe, severity of leaks, prior service calls and other projects.
SLEUTHS–There’s a bit of detective work in finding leaks and the crew has already sleuthed out several.
The photo at right was taken on a West Belton Avenue location where a leak had just been located and fixed .
It didn’t actually need a lot of high tech.
“There was a puddle of water,” Hunter Skelton of SAMCO said.
But the sleuths have plenty of high-tech including listening devices which enable them to hear escaping water.
WELCOMING—T he leak sleuths said Rockdale residents have been welcoming as they go up and down streets and yards.
Former City Manager Chris Whittaker estimated between 30 and 40 percent of the city’s water supply is being lost to leaks.
All three SAMCO employees told The Reporter they haven’t found anything which would cause them to disagree with Whittaker’s assessment.
See editorial, page 4A
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