How Charlotte Water Prioritizes Leaks

You walk out your door and see a line of water trickling down the street (great, you think, another leak in Charlotte).

So, you call 311 or send us a tweet to report the leak. Charlotte Water staff thank you for reporting it and say they will repair it. A few days pass by and the leak still hasn’t been fixed. You wonder, what is the deal?

How We Prioritize Leaks

The transcript for this video appears at the bottom of this page.

This is a common occurrence around our city and we want to make sure you understand how and why we prioritize leaks the way we do, and that we have a triage scenario due to a large number of broken/leaking pipes in the city. For more information on why they break, check out this blog article on why pipes break.

Some leaks are taking longer than below estimates. You can check to see if a leak has already been reported. If the leak is getting worse or causing property damage let us know by calling 311 or 704-336-7600 and say or select ‘water emergency.’

Charlotte Water has three levels of leaks; minor, priority and emergency leaks.

Minor Leaks

• are not a hazard to anyone
• are not damaging property
• are leaking slowly
• the leak is small
• the leak is not causing any loss of water pressure to surrounding customers
• typical 8 week repair time

Priority Leaks

• are a steady flow that causes attention, but is not causing any property damage
• the leak is minor but could results in property damage if left unattended
• surrounding customers have low water pressure
• typical repair time of 2-3 days; a 5-day goal
• some priority leaks may take longer due to the number of emergencies and other priority leaks that need to be repaired first

Emergency Leaks

• when neighborhoods or businesses do not have water
• property damage is occurring
• it’s a hazard to the public
• could cause major ice spots in the winter
• a customer has no water pressure or flow
• typical repair time 1-2 days

Please, keep this in mind and know that we have staff working 24/7 on all infrastructure problems throughout our entire 8,000-mile system of sewer and water pipes. Our field staff are working on ways to mark leaks that have already been reported and are in our system. Please keep an eye out for either a flag or spray paint denoting that we have seen the leak.

So to summarize….

Leak TypeDescriptionTypical Repair TimeMinor8 weeksPriority2-3 days; 5-day goalEmergency

	No hazard to anyone. No property damage Slow/Very small leak Not causing any loss of water pressure
	Steady flow that causes a lot of attention, but is not causing any property damage. Leaks in the street that are minor but could result in further damage if left unattended. The customer has low pressure or flow.
	Customers/Neighborhoods/Businesses without water Doing property damage Hazard to the public Can cause major ice spots in winter The customer has zero pressure or flow.	1-2 days

 

Transcript for video: “How We Prioritize Leaks:”

Last year, Charlotte Water responded to and repaired almost 4,000 leaks in the 4,300 mile water distribution system Not all leaks are created equal, and due to the large number of reported daily, staff have to prioritize each leak based on severity. Leaks are characterized as either minor, priority or an emergency. Minor leaks are small, aren’t damaging property, and aren’t causing any loss of water pressure to surrounding customers. Minor leaks are typically repaired within 8 weeks. Priority leaks are small but could result in property damage if left unattended. Priority leaks are typically repaired within 2-3 days, with a 5-day goal. Emergency leaks cause water outages, damage property and are a hazard to the public. Emergency leaks are repaired as soon as possible. If you see a leak,

please call 311. We are open 24/7 to take your water or sewer emergency calls.