Page 4 - October 2019 Final

GHOST FLUSH BUSTER CONSERVES WATER

FREE TOILET REPAIR SERVICE AVAILABLE TO ALL WAL RESIDENTS By Rashawnda Atkinson

Do you hear water sounds coming “Metro Water uses a three-fold sys- running. The resident was not aware
from your bathroom toilet or near tem of monitoring, on-call service of the water loss,” David shared.
your unit? Does your toilet randomly and attending to consumption in- Don’t let this be you. Even if you
flush during the day or in the middle creases. This helps us reach the goals suspect hearing water, David sug-
of the night.? Sounds eerie? our clients want—money saved and gests that you let someone know, as
water waste reduced,” he explained. there have been times where the dili-
Before you think there’s something gent ear of a resident helped detect
otherworldly lurking about in your Monitoring Service the source of the leak. It’s also im-
bathroom, there’s a term for this, and Each week, Metro Water staff read portant to know where the toilet shut-
it’s called a phantom or ghost flush. the water meters and analyze how off valve is located so that you can
It’s a sign that there’s a problem that much water is being used. They can turn off the water supply until Metro
needs to be solved. estimate about how much water each Water arrives to make the repair.
unit uses per day. According to Vir-
Fortunately, WAL has a contractor ginia-American, water and sewer On-Call Service
that fixes such problems at no extra service costs $13.29/1000 gal. When Should you hear that phantom flush
cost to you. When you dial 703-461- or water running, don’t hesitate to
3418, leave a message for Metro Wa- call Metro Water. Metro Water sup-
ter, the Association’s contractor for plies the parts and labor aimed at re-
water conservation. Metro Water will solving the water loss at no charge to
schedule a time to investigate the the residents.
case and resolve the issue. Each call
or report made helps the Association Increased Consumption
reduce water consumption and save The final component of the Metro
money on utility costs ! Water partnership with WAL is what
to do when the consumption increas-
Who is Metro Water? es and no one’s reported a problem.
Metro Water provides water con- This is a serious issue because if just
sumption control services for WAL. one toilet keeps running, it can lose
South Boston, VA native David Wil- thousands of gallons of waters each
born has been a water conservationist day. To notify the affected building
for nearly 50 years and WAL has and as a reminder to check for leaks,
been a full-time client of Metro Wa- Water Alert Notices are distributed
ter since 1992. Our community was Metro Water routinely monitors the water under the door of each unit. Inspec-
the first client to receive such service usage at Watergate at Landmark. tions are then conducted to find the
from Metro Water after fulfilling an leak and fix it.
initial contract to replace aging toilet coupled with the fact that a running
components with better technology toilet can add thousands of gallons to “Fortunately, WAL residents are in-
aimed at reducing water waste. a building’s consumption in one day, terested in how efficiently their build-
it’s easy to see how much the costs of ing is using water and we greatly ap-
“We were working on conserving an undetected leak add up. Metro preciate the help we get in locating
water when it wasn’t talked about so Water data suggests that water con- the source of the water loss,” he adds.
much,” David said, “but we knew sumption over time at WAL has been
that to control consumption levels significantly reduced from its previ- So now you know what to do when
and costs, you have to stop the leaks ous levels of around 210 gal./unit/day you hear those phantom flushes in
ASAP.” So, Metro Water focuses on to on average 125 gal./unit/day as of your bathroom. There’s no need to
water conservation via reducing toilet today. call an outside plumber.
leaks and water consumption while
our Maintenance Department repairs “Water leaks can happen quietly, es- Help save water and your
distribution leaks and toilet backups. pecially if you aren’t attentive. I’ve Association save money. Call
gone into units here and the toilet is
Metro Water at 703-461-3418.
Page 4 Wheel October 2019