PLANO Strict water restrictions are in place for member cities in the North Texas Municipal Water District.
So with a serious drought under way, why would the City of Plano drain a water tower of 750,000 gallons?
Neighbors who live near the water tower, just off Spring Creek Parkway and Rainier Road, are angry. They can't understand why they're being forced to scale back their water usage as their city wasted three-quarters of a million gallons.
Plano homeowners became concerned when water from a hydrant just below the tower began flowing through their neighborhood.
Water was all up and down the street there, said Howard Schaeffer, who lives nearby. In fact, one or two sewers couldn't handle it. So it went down on that way to other sewers.
Jim Colombo took a photo of the water draining down a driveway. He called the Plano Public Works Department, who told him they had to drain the tower to paint its interior.
I was like, 'Considering your water situation, do you think that's a wise decision?' He said, 'Well, the water has got to go somewhere, Colombo said.
The tank atop the tower was due for a routine painting. The last time the inside was painted was 23 years ago. Plano officials say waiting wasn't an option.
If we waited, we run a greater chance of having problems with the integrity of the tank and overall, the amount of water wasted to do this is minimal compared to the overall system, said Plano Public Works director Jerry Cosgrove.
The tank usually holds 1.5 million gallons. The water level was allowed to drop halfway before it was shut off from the rest of the system.
The remaining 750,000 gallons were pumped into the streets.
I let my lawn die. So to think they were running it down the drain to paint the tank blew my mind, Colombo said.
Cosgrove said he understands why homeowners are angry. We're trying to tell people to conserve. So it seems contrary to our message, he said. But again, we still have to maintain our overall system.
The city considered using the water for its parks. But the biggest Parks and Recreation tanker trucks only hold 1,000 gallons of water. It would take 750 trips to use it, which Cosgrove dismissed as inefficient.
E-mail sstoler@wfaa.com
