What's your opinion ... on KC's water department?

Maybe the KC STAR should contact the Mayor's office? Would that help? Your situation with the leaking water main is so common in KC it's ridiculous! We had a leaking water main for TWO YEARS on our street less than a block away. Every time the City sent someone out, the workers took all day, in between standing around breaks, leaning on shovel breaks, yaking breaks, coffee breaks, lunch breaks, afternoon breaks and more yaking - still not fixed. Finally, believe this - a private contractor was sent out to FIX the leaking main. By the way - do you know how close your STORM WATER DRAIN is to your home? You are paying a premium for this "service" - the one that serves our neighborhood is 3 miles away...Is it the Mayor's responsibility to oversee the various City departments OR the City Manager? I am so tired of this nonsense with what are supposed to City Services to people who pay their taxes and spend their money in KC -- How about this - Hire an Independent Contractor to overhaul the City Services - give him a HUGE TIF (Tax Increment Financing) break and finally get some work done and some responsible people performing the work that needs to be done! PS - Customer Service in this town is UNKNOWN!

Its the best in the nation!!! By far!!

It's not my city anymore. WSD could be an even greater cash cow if allowed to operate as a private entity. But as long as poor managers are protected by race, rather than ability, forcing good managers to leave from frustration, this won't happen.

But as I said. I don't really care anymore. I made the choice, and I moved.

jdog
We always have water when we open the tap. Some times of the winter it smells and tastes funny (well, not so much funny as bad). All too often we have water line breaks adjacent to our home or near enough to witness them leaking slowly, turning to a trickle and finally to a full blown stream. This goes on for days while the road is eaten away and a pit with flowing water develops. Two years ago such a pit was next to our yard and neighbors from a near by neighborhood came by on a quest to find the source of all the water they'd seen for the previous week. It seems they thought it odd that in the middle of the summer they would have a full creek a mile and a half away from our little flowing spring. Repeated calls produced only barricades around the hole that I couldn't reach the bottom of with a 10 foot 2x4. I can only imagine the added cost of road repairs after letting the water run this long, not to mention the cost of the water. ( Is that errant water then sometimes going back into the antiquated sewer system and putting further pressure on the treatment plant? That would be an odd feedback loop. Just curious).
I guess my big gripe is the lack of attention to everything and when they do show up there's a huge gaggle of people standing around watching a few people do the work. Couldn't some of those people be working on another hole somewhere else?

My story is similar. The lighting project in our neighborhood last fall was a blessing until the construction crew broke my water meter. The City supposedly replaced the meter when no one was at home. My bi-monthly water bill has risen 56.7% since the replacement. Emails and calls go unanswered, except for the first billing after the "replacement" meter was installed. The response was "that's what the meter reads" and you have to pay it. Our water lines have been checked on our side of the meter. No leaks here. So how does a bill go from a peak average of 11 to 14 ccf to 22 ccf in two monthly billings during the winter? The City manager and the Water Dept Director need to be held accountable, and something needs to be done. We are senior citizens on a fixed income.

Whenever I turn the faucet on I get water. And water in good shape so for that there is no complaint. However, mains on streets around the house are constantly breaking and leaking.
On getting the water out is a different story. Four years ago the lack of sewer maintenance caused a backup into the basement of the house. The city did pay for damages and finally repaired the line but why did it take so long, especially since they knew about the troubled line beforehand.
Blame falls not only on the head of the department but also with the city manager's office and the council. I think they fail to realize that this is a business and not just a city service.