Detect water leaks with Flume device
Something happened for us that might be of interest to more of your readers.
Cal Water Service sent me an email offering a discount on the Flume device, an attachment to our water meter that gives more information.
I ordered it and installed it. Installation needs no plumbing and no electrical – the main part uses a big rubber band to hold it next to the water meter. It picks up a magnetic signal from the meter. Another part plugs into an AC outlet and connects to the house Wi-Fi. An app on my smartphone tells a lot about water usage.
About 2:15 a.m. on a Friday morning, I got an alert that there was a leak somewhere. Our drip irrigation system had started at 2 a.m. I checked and found that a squirrel had chewed through a tube in our drip irrigation system. I turned off the valve to the irrigation and went back to bed. Later I fixed the leak and ran a replacement watering cycle.
The chewed tube was leaking between 8 and 9 gallons per minute, far more than a couple of gallons per hour that the drip system should use. I’m not enthusiastic about water-saving advice like taking shorter showers, but it was really nice to know that a fixable leak was wasting water.
There are still discounted devices available. Price is about $50, down from the list price of about $200.
For more about the program, visit flumewater.com/partners/calwater.
Mark Leonard
Los Altos
Players oppose Montclaire pilot
I offer a point of clarification to your pickleball article in the July 20 Town Crier (“Los Altos officials cite noise mitigation before pickleball court installation”).
The pickleball and tennis communities worked with the city to reach a mutually workable proposal for a pilot pickleball program at McKenzie Park. That is accurate. However, both the pickleball and tennis communities strongly advised the city not to do a pilot program at Montclaire Park for several reasons: noise in a residential neighborhood, no restrooms, limited parking and increased traffic. The pickleball community will not recommend that their players use that site.
After both McKenzie and Montclaire courts are lined with bright yellow lines, the tennis community will lose 40% of the city courts for most tennis players.
Scott Spielman
Los Altos
