Spokane making progress on water metering, but some losses still unexplained

The city of Spokane says it met all state and federal standards for the quality of its drinking water in 2016, although leaky pipes and metering remain a problem.

The city this week released its annual water quality report, which shows officials couldn’t account for 11.7 percent of water that was pumped or purchased last year. That water “is assumed to be lost to the ground,” the report says.

Under the state’s Water Use Efficiency Rule, the average supply loss in a municipal drinking water system may not exceed 10 percent.

Spokane has made progress toward that goal in recent years. In 2014, the city couldn’t account for 17.8 percent of its drinking water. In 2015, that value was 13.4 percent.

“Clearly we’ve put a lot of focus on reducing that number,” city spokeswoman Marlene Feist said.

Feist said the numbers don’t only reflect leakage. They’re also impacted by water losses that weren’t always metered. It wasn’t until recently, she said, that the fire department and other users were required to report how much water they pull from hydrants, she said.

The city also has installed newer, more accurate meters on each of its wells, Feist said. The city has never been fined for missing the state target, she said, noting that many other water systems simply estimate their losses.

In past years, city officials have pointed to century-old pipes as a major cause of leakage. They often rupture during freeze-thaw cycles and cause small leaks that are difficult to detect.

Feist said the city has begun using more advanced leak-detection technology.

Spokane’s water system features roughly 1,000 miles of pipes and supplies some 75,000 homes and businesses. It’s the third largest system in the state, behind those in Seattle and Tacoma.

The annual report shows Spokane met its conservation goals in two categories (indoor residential and outdoor commercial) yet failed in the other two (outdoor residential and outdoor government). Overall, the city used an average of 10,480 gallons per day, more than 10 percent above the goal of 9,486.

As of the release of the report, the city had replaced 177 lead service lines, many of which were installed in the 1940s when the World War II effort made other materials scarce.

The city has counted an additional 309 lead service lines and plans to replace them within three years. Feist said many of the lead pipes are in northwest Spokane.

Residents can check if their homes are supplied by lead service lines by visiting the city’s website or calling the water department at (509) 625-7800.

Other contaminants, such as radium, nitrates, bacteria and naturally occurring arsenic, are within healthy ranges, Feist said.

In March 2015, following a request from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the city tested for the perfluorinated chemicals that recently contaminated tap water in Airway Heights. Feist said that test found no trace of the chemicals, which are known by the acronyms PFOS and PFOA.