Sometimes good news is hard to come by, but the Village received some positive and surprising information recently: Water consumption has slowed dramatically and observers are crediting plugged leaks in the system and private conservation. Figures from the City of New York, which provides Larchmont with its drinking water, indicate the Village consumed a mere 30 million gallons in June—that’s 9 million gallons LESS than the Village had projected and budgeted for.
Village Administrator Justin Datino says the folks at DPW have been plugging between 40 and 60 leaks a year in the Village’s century-old system. (Larchmont buys the water from the City of New York and distributes it through 22 miles of pipes and 760 service connections.) While our wet spring certainly had some impact on reduced lawn watering, Datino says the size of the drop makes it clear that the Larchmont system is tighter and less prone to leakage than at any time in its history.
“It’s a positive result for the efforts we’ve been putting in,” he said, “and residents deserve a lot of credit for reducing waste at home as well.”
The 9 million gallons of drinking water amounts to a municipal savings of $50,000.
