Marin Water District fixes leaky water tank after complaints from residents
SAN RAFAEL – In Marin County, a leaky water tank in the middle of a drought has drawn the ire of residents and demonstrated the ability of everyday people to affect change.
The Marin Municipal Water District has been preaching a message of conservation to its customers in these dry times.
"This neighborhood is incredibly conscientious. We have buckets in our showers, we have tubs in our sinks," said Lyle Christie of San Rafael.
Christie said even installed a manifold under his house that can quickly shut off any pipe if it starts to leak.
Just up the hill is a water tank owned by the district that is anything but a water saver.
"And then we come up here, it's unbelievable," Christie told KPIX 5.
The 50,000-gallon reservoir made of redwood was built in 1977 and has been leaking like a sieve for a long time.
Christie had it tested and figures it's losing at least two gallons per minute—that's 1,050,000 gallons per year.
Elizabeth Tresslar lives right next to the tank and said she's been watching it leak for about a decade.
"I was very mad," Tressslar said, "because water is going down the drain, and my bill is going up."
So, recently Christie tried rigging up a basin to catch some of it, to use for landscaping.
"And they said, 'No, we'd rather it go down the hillside.' And that's when I said, that's it, I'm going on NextDoor, to the people's forum for justice," he said, laughing.
Christie posted video of the leak on social media, uncorking a flood of protests.
On Tuesday, a crew quietly arrived to plug up some of the larger holes. The district wouldn't go on camera, but said it is one of only six wooden tanks remaining and was scheduled to be removed in 2024, but the size of the leak has moved it up the list.
In the meantime, the district plans to pipe water in from a larger reservoir on a nearby ridge and the old tank should be gone by November.
The water district said the construction design for the new system has been completed and will go out for bid this week or next.
But neighbor Mark Wittenkeoler said he thinks it's only happening because the people piped up.
"In the last five weeks, the most extraordinary thing happened, because this is really a grassroots effort from San Rafael residents," he said. "They wanted to see water not being consumed by this rather large leak on a 1970s wooden tank, and they did their best. And they drew the attention to it that it needed, frankly."