PORT ANGELES — The annual survey of one-fifth of the city’s water lines uncovered 16 small leaks that were costing the city $53,500 worth of water annually, billed at the residential rate.
City Water Superintendent Bill Beverford told the Utilities Advisory Committee on Tuesday that the annual water line inspection saved an estimated 92,160 gallons per day, or 33,638,400 gallons per year.
If translated to cubic feet, which is how the city bills for water use, that amount would total 4,497,112 cubic feet, Beverford said.
Charged at the residential rate of $1.16 per 100 cubic feet, the bill for 4.5 million cubic feet would total $53,516, he said.
The average Port Angeles household pays about $20.90 per month for water service, based upon a flat $14.50 monthly charge plus $1.16 per 100 cubic feet of water, or about 750 gallons.
10 days worth of water
The city uses an average of 3.3 million gallons of water daily and 6 million gallons during peak periods.
So the 33.6 million gallons saved equals as much as 10 days worth of water for the entire city.
The city has conducted the leak detection survey for the past 15 years, inspecting one-fifth of the city’s water distribution system each year.
The annual inspection costs about $5,000. The number of miles of water lines inspected varies according to location, type of pipe, size of pipe and other factors.
This year’s inspection was conducted by Utilities Services Group from March 14 through March 18.
It covered the area west of I Street to Milwaukee Drive, between Fourth and 16th streets — about 10 miles, including all intersecting lines.
