UFW?

UFW stands for Unaccounted For Water on the Greater Vernon water system in the North Okanagan, and its volume is actually staggering.   

Some reports have it that UFW accounts for the same volume as metered domestic water usage, despite the graph below continuing to cloud the numbers...a practice not uncommon within the GVW bureaucracy.


Here's today's Letter to the Editor from D. Knol:

"On May 25, my husband and I parked in the cul-de-sac behind RONA as we were going for a bike ride.  Upon arrival, we noticed a city truck parked there.

"...I did not agree with the amount

 of water being wasted."  D.Knol

A hose was hooked up to the last fire hydrant, with water being pumped into the street and going down the drain.  Two hours later, we arrived back at our vehicle to see the same city truck, but now with two hoses hooked to the fire hydrant spewing out water.

The water was so deep that it was actually going over the curb and running down the walking path.  The drains could hardly handle the water going down them.  When I went to the back of our car, the water went over the top of my shoes.

Now I know they will say that they were flushing the lines, but really how long does it take to flush lines?

I am a little perturbed that we are told to conserve water, to let our lawns die and to think of the fire season, which I can agree with for the most part, then to see the thousands of gallons of water being wasted, that I have a problem with.

I contacted the city yards and later I talked to a gentleman about my concerns, and I was told they were flushing the lines.  I told him I did not agree with the amount of water being wasted, which he then told me that it was necessary because of the algae which grows in the lines.  I indicated that I thought there should be another way to handle this and found it disturbing to see that much water wasted when we are told not to water and conserve.  His response was we would not be happy if we got sick from algae in the lines and would rather see dead lawns.

I know we have chlorine in our water.  Would that not help some with the algae and is the water not constantly moving?  According to this gentleman, it is not.  I know there are dead-ends like behind RONA, but for the most part, I would think the water is constantly in motion.

He then told me it takes three years to flush all of the lines so it is a never-ending cycle.

Then I was then told this was basically our fault because we voted against the $70 million expansion.

I may be wrong, but it was more than two hours that the water was spewing out of that hydrant.  Is that necessary?  Personally, I think not."

                         D. Knol

Click on chart to enlarge:

(blog note:  I neglected to capture a snippet that continues the last sentence "The last category graphed below captures miscellaneous activities such as bulk water sales (truck filling station), water main flushing, water quality monitoriong stations throughout the distribution network, and firefighting."

But even the "Parks/Road medians" category has changed, with no new numbers available, with the recent reorganization of Parks in the North Okanagan.

"So...yet another quasi-useless number from GVW," states Kia.

But it was a good letter to the editor.
Wonder if there were backflow prevention devices on the flushing process...and a meter.