Water Issues Mounting One Sip At A Time
Bill Graham
Platte Rambler
Most of us send in our house payments, mow the yard, read the home owner’s association newsletter and hope our community’s future will take care of itself.
Engineers and city planners worry and wonder. They think about sustainability in communities. Their profession’s newsletters and conferences address how to balance growth, cost, technologies and tax base. Let’s take water, for instance. I’ve got a big, cool, glass of clean, healthy water on the table right now as I write this. The price per sip may be going up, though. Actually, I guess my water rates have been rising through the years. But American know-how, new technology and the economies of scale that go with growth make my drink and my hot showers far cheaper than in many parts of the globe. I haven’t noticed rising water costs too much.
But what will the future bring?
The headline at the top of Saturday’s edition of The Kansas City Star said: “EPIDEMIC OF BROKEN WATER MAINS – Replacing pipes in Kansas City could cost as much as $2 billion.”
We’re lucky in Platte County in that most water mains buried by Kansas City in our growing subdivisions were installed in recent decades. They should be built well and installed to high standards. The city recently replaced a water pipe in the City Market area stamped 1874. So if we can match that, we’ll avoid rampant geysers and service breaks in the cul-de-sacs. The Kansas City Water Department’s biggest problems with water main breaks are south of the river and in the older sections of Clay County in the Northland.
However, the city’s aging infrastructure problems are real and tied to us all. The city has long balanced using revenue from new growth in the Northland, east and south to pay for repairs and replace pipe in the older neighborhoods. Now the problems are outpacing revenue growth. Rate increases to pay for upgrades seem inevitable.
Most Parkville residents get their water from the Missouri American Water Co. But that company’s cost of a new water plant in St. Joseph some years ago was a major factor in an upward ripple in their rates.
Many Platte County residents pay water bills to a rural water district or a municipality. But most of those entities shut down or mothballed their water plants some years ago. They switched to purchasing water from the Kansas City Water Department. The city provided a cheap and dependable source of water and a large supply. Kansas City draws water from the Missouri River and wells near the river. We’re blessed to live where the supply of raw water is not a major issue. Kansas City water flows throughout northwest Missouri as well as the Northland.
FOR MORE ON THIS COLUMN SEE THE PRINTED VERSION OF THE PLATTE COUNTY CITIZEN
Bill Graham, who lives in the Platte City area with his family, may be reached by e-mail at plattecitizen@kc.rr.com.
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