New York American Water is leaking problems

Town of Hempstead Councilman Anthony D’Esposito was at the intersection of Cedar Lane and Elm Street on Friday and scolded the company on the state of the fire hydrants across Woodmere. The Woodmere Fire Department has been complaining about a lack of water pressure in the hydrants to since this past March, D’Esposito said.

In the Lakeview Peace Garden, water trickles down a fountain into the ground where the same water is recycled back up to the fountain. For years, Nassau County paid $50 to keep that water running -- but in July, the American Water bill came in at more than $4,300.

New York American Water, a Merrick-based private utility that is facing backlash for hiking the bills of its residential customers, supplies the water to the Lakeview site and the hydrants. County Executive Laura Curran said the company has not said why the county’s bill went up. “Honestly, this makes me angry because our taxpayers are expected to foot this 80-times increase,” Curran said.

County Comptroller Jack Schnirman said county officials have looked for leaks or other issues that might have caused the bill to go up but have found nothing.

Questioning the bill, Schnirman said, is just one of the steps the county is taking to save taxpayers money on future utility bills. “Every leak, every light left on and every out-of-whack utility bill costs us money,” he said. “We can’t be wasting our most precious resources because some people don’t like facing uncomfortable questions.”

The bill for the Lakeview site was delivered to the county as an investigation into its accounts with NYAW found money is “literally leaking out of Nassau” in a variety of ways, Schnirman said.

Substantial leaks, sometimes costing tens of thousands of dollars, have been found at various sites. According to an NYAW spokesman, several significant leaks have been found at North Woodmere Park. The utility company has identified the location of two of the leaks and is trying to determine where others might be.

“NYAW is waiting on the County to provide additional plans, which will enable NYAW specialists to pinpoint the exact locations of the leaks,” the spokesman said. “It is critical that the County not delay repair of these leaks as with each day thousands of gallons of water are wasted at the expense of the taxpayers.”

In Woodmere, the water mains that supply these hydrants were installed in 1910, and while D’Esposito said American Water has plans to replace them, he said that they prefer to wait for road restorations to save money. He accused to company of, “Putting profit over people and safety,” as the Woodmere Fire Department has covered these hydrants with plastic so fire departments providing mutual aid are aware they are not working.

D’Esposito, a former chief of the Island Park Fire Department, said the low water pressure not only prevents trucks from being able to pump water, but could irreparably damage them as well, possibly costing taxpayers money in repairs or replacements.

“American Water has to step up and do what’s right,” he said. “As a former fire chief, nothing is scarier than pulling up to a fire and seeing that you can’t hit the hydrant … It’s a disgrace.”

Melanie Kail, a Woodmere fire commissioner, then opened the hydrant on Elm Street to show that the water pressure is too low. A stream bubbled out onto the curb as D’Esposito said that the water should be able to reach across the street.

He clarified that the hydrant issue is separate from the problems with water bills and the leaks, but it just adds to the contention between the county, town and American Water.