Water Theft

I was driving through a small town that is adjacent to a large metropolitan area. This small town was getting some major improvements to it’s infrastructure, which included paving the main road through town. As I was driving down this road I noticed a fire hydrant that had a garden hose connected to the hydrant, so in my line of work this caught my attention. I have done work for many different public water systems and from my understanding Non Revenue Water is a main focus for these companies to decrease the amount of water that is produced but not sold. There are many ways this can happen, one is through leaks in the system, normal production use, meter inaccuracy, and theft. After I got to my destination of work, I found contact information for the water company of that small town to notify them of what I saw on my travel. The company was not aware of the garden hose on the hydrant and said that this happens from time to time, but it does effect their water loss percentage. There are groups of people that believe water should be free because it is a natural made element from our planet. Not all people realize the effort and money it takes to turn not potable water into a drinkable product. Water theft occurs in many different formats and is no different then someone walking into a store and loading there pockets with goods and running out of the store. Contractors and even residents of a community, can all play a part in this type of crime when they steal water from a hydrant or other water taps, without a metering device so the water utility company can properly charge them for the water they used. This type of awareness is not talked about much but does effect all consumers in the water system. Just like any product that is stolen from a company, the water loss can financially hurt the company by raising there Non Revenue water percentage, making there company less efficient, which essential could raise the consumers water rate charge to compensate for the loss. This might seem like a non issue for most people in the community but we all must be more vigilant when it comes to open theft such as this to help decrease Non Revenue water and help with water conservation. There are parts in this country and around the world that have major rations on water to help conserve this scarce resource in certain desert areas or where potable water sources are not abundant. Certain third world countries would give there life up to have running water inside of there home that is safe for there families to drink. In this country we take this convenience for granite. If we get up in the morning and go to open up a tap and no water is running, this is an end of the world event for most people. This can happen from time to time with operational emergencies such as leaks, frozen lines, or pump malfunctions. In other parts of the world this is a daily reality. I can not stress enough the importance of potable water and indoor plumbing in our country and give all the respect in the world to those who provide this great convenience to all of us. Hats off to the water utility workers and their employers.