Leaks can run up a water bill quickly.It is recommended that members occasionally check for unnoticed leaks. This is easily done with service meter inspections. Most meters have low flow indicators. After ensuring no water is being used on the premises, inspect the meter. All dials, spinners and sweep hands should be still. Any movement represents a leak. Another method is to track meter activity over periods of nonuse: overnight, or while away from home. Simply record the number on the meter register after all water use has stopped, and again prior to any water use. Any change represents lost water.

Leak Policy –
“If a Member’s usage increases 30% or more from the same billing period usage averaged over the past three years, Maury Mutual will try to notify the Member. If the Member finds that the increase in usage is due to a leak on the Member’s side of the meter, the Member may appeal to the Board to have their current water billing reduced for one billing period only. Water usage will be billed for the same volume used but at the lowest assessed rate at that time. Possible leaks and/or repairs will be monitored by the water system operator. This policy is intended to cover mechanical failure of fixed plumbing components and does not cover human error (a faucet left on, for instance) or temporary attachments (garden hoses, timers for instance).”

Your conservation efforts are greatly appreciated.

Water Saving Tips

Ways to Save Water Indoors

  • Check all faucets, pipes and toilets for leaks.
  • Install water saving showerheads and ultra-low-flush toilets.
  • Take shorter showers.
  • Turn off the water while brushing your teeth or shaving.
  • Defrost frozen food in the refrigerator.
  • Rinse vegetables in a full sink or pan of water.
  • Fully load your dishwasher.
  • Rinse dishes in a full sink or pan of water.
  • Wash full loads of clothes.

Ways to Save Water Outdoors

  • Don’t over-water landscaping.
  • Use drip irrigation in the gardens and for landscaping.
  • Water your garden early in the morning or late in evening.
  • Don’t water on cool, rainy or windy days.
  • Equip all hoses with shut-off nozzles.
  • Plant drought-tolerant or low water-use plants and grasses.
  • Use shrubs and ground cover to reduce the amount of grass.
  • Place mulch around plants to reduce evaporation and discourage weeds.

Protecting Our Supply
We’re fortunate that our sources on Maury are very clean and require only a minimum of treatment. However, there are still some areas where we need to be careful:

Prevent back flow. Install fixtures on your outside faucets to prevent water from being siphoned into your water pipes. If siphoning were to happen, contaminated water could get drawn into the supply system.
Look after our watershed. Our spring water comes from rainfall in the middle of Maury Island that percolates down to our aquifers. It makes sense to avoid putting anything else into the ground: pesticides, weed killers, fertilizers, oils, fuel, or anything else that might contaminate our water. Included in this list would be seepage from poorly designed or poorly maintained septic systems. MMWC water is regularly tested for contaminants and we are fortunate in that we have no industry or large-scale agriculture in our watershed. However, if contamination were to occur it would be very hard to fix.