Monday, March 8, 2010

Infrastructure Repair; A Great Way to Spend Stimulas Funding and Create Jobs In Asheville

I was approached by a colleague this past Friday afternoon. He had been on a hike a few days prior in the area of Swannanoa where the chronic leak I have reported on is located. He informed me of his discovery of an additional and much larger leak just a short distance further through the woods. I went to this location and indeed he had found a leak of much greater concern; or so it appears. I have contacted Asheville Water Maintenance and informed them of the discovery. They were going to investigate today and do a follow up thereafter to keep me posted on the matter.

Typically in a situation of this nature I would do some simple testing of the water to verify whether or not it is municipal water or a fresh water spring. It would not be unusual for a spring to have found it's way along the underside e of a pipe this size. The previous several years of drought conditions and recent influx of water from the heavy snows we have experienced this winter could have contributed to this scenario. I did not test the water for chlorine (the tell tale signature chemical in our city water supply) and instead contacted the maintenance department to investigate. I expect to hear from them within a day and we will know their findings.

Regardless of what they report, when we know leaks of this nature are very common on infrastructure as old as the systems in these mountains and many others places across the country; why don't we see extensive infrastructure repair with stimulus funds? We certainly hear this idea expressed in the media. It has been a topic in President Obama's public position. What is being done with all this money? There are lots of local folks in need of  work, and this kind spending would create jobs in many areas of the market. Manufacturing, distribution, transportation, sales, management, food, labor and more would all benefit from the spending of money on infrastructure repair and upgrading. This would be good for the country, good for the people and makes complete sense for supporting a growing population.

What I know is that we lose much more water from leaking infrastructure than we do from inefficient everyday use, so if we're going to preach water conservation we need to look at the big stuff along with the little stuff; otherwise we're never going to get it right.

What do you think?

AP











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1 Comment:

Unknown said...

Water leaks whether big or small should be fixed right away. Since most of our infrastructure are quite old, we need to be proactive in checking for cracked foundation and water leaks to avoid much bigger problems in the future. We can address the problems to the experts, so that they may conduct foundation repair techniques and soil stabilization methods. I remember my daughter. She is just 2, yet she knows how to turn the faucet off.(Well, thanks to Barney for teaching kids on how to properly brush their teeth and not letting the water run!) Like little children, we need to take the initiative to address issues concerning safety or environmental problems. We may not be affected now but maybe in the future.

 
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