HRS Battling Water Loss And Considering Line Replacements

Water loss continues to be a problem for Highlands Residential Services with multiple new leaks over the past month.

Executive Director Dow Harris recommended to the housing authority board Thursday to consider replacing lines in the most serious areas of Baxter.

“These Baxter water leaks are killing us,” Harris said. “They are not coming to the surface. We are having to hire leak detection to find them, and by then, the damage is done.”

Harris said 150 feet of service line has already been replaced, but the issues have not stopped. Harris said last year, the housing authority finished $120,000 over budget in water expenses and $28,000 over this quarter.

“It’s not surfacing,” Harris said. “We don’t know we have a leak until we get the bill, and then getting it found and getting it fixed, and we’ve changed our policy adjustments. It’s getting really expensive.”

Harris said housing on Alexander and Maxwell Street needs the most work. Board Member Jim Martin said the situation has grown in importance and needs to be addressed.

“It’s not something that is going to go away,” Martin said. “You got to find it. I don’t want to dwell on it, but it needs attention,”

Harris said the organization also found leaks in Monterey and two in Cookeville. Harris said HRS has always had sporadic leaks in the past with many of the lines aging.