FAQ

Do you have a toilet that you feel suspicious about leaking? Here’s one way to find out. Take some food coloring or kool-aid, anything safe and potable with a color additive, and pour it into the holding tank of the toilet. If the color additive makes its way to the inside of the bowl, the flap in the holding tank is faulty or the chain may just need adjusting. Its not unusual to see increases in water usage of up to 20,000 gallons a month because of a faulty toilet flapper. It really brings a new light to the the old saying, “your flushing your money down the toilet.”

The area we live in is notorious for hard water. HB&TS’s water is slightly or moderately hard and is registering continuously at 110 ppm or 5.6 grains per gallon. “Hard Water” was originally termed as such, due to it being more difficult to work with. It takes more soap, shampoo and detergent to do the same job that soft water can do with less. With all of the limestone and minerals in our area that are dissolved into the water, its just a natural occurance. But, we are not alone. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, at least 85% of the U.S. has hard water. After treatment, the water coming to your home is categorized as, “slightly or moderately hard”. Still, calcium deposits are a very common thing to find and can be very hard on your appliances that use water. These deposits look like a white film or small white stones that you can crush between your fingers. They can clog up sink and shower heads. Clog up the screens on your washing machine hoses and dishwasher. Even build up and fill your entire hot water heater. If your having trouble with low flows coming through only certain sinks or appliances, you may want to start your troubleshooting by unscrewing a few faucet screens and see if there is any buildup of calcium that needs removing.

A water softener is also an option that you might want to look into. It takes the calcium or magnesium from the water and replaces it with either sodium or potassium. It will eliminate the calcium deposits and the softer water will be easier on your appliances. It may even add some lifetime. But, dont forget, it will require some maintenance.

pH Scale

Pressure regulators are a necessity for most homes in our area. The main reason is due to the hills and valleys that surround us all.

H.B.& T.S. pumps water to elevated or ground level water storage tanks atop hills to assure an adequate water pressure to every residence. Therefore, the water pressure to your residence is determined by the elevation of the storage tank in your area in comparison to the elevation of your home.

To make it simple: It takes 1 pound of water pressure to move water 2.31 feet in elevation. If you have 100 pounds of pressure at your residence, you live 231 feet below the level of the water storage tank in your area. If you have 10 pounds of pressure, you live 23 feet below the water storage tanks water level in your area.

To serve water to a residence, the water utility must be able to maintain a water pressure of 20 pounds at the location of the residences water meter. Therefore with all the hills and valleys causing so many differences in elevation in our area and for the district to maintain an adequate pressure across our entire water district, some extremes in water pressure to residences do occur.

This is where a water pressure regulator comes into use. Most regulators you find at a local hardware or plumbing store will already be preset for a water pressure between 50 and 70 pounds. These pressure levels are easier on your plumbing fixtures compared to you maybe having 120 pounds of pressure and also give adequate pressure for watering or showering.

If you are constantly having to do repair work on sink fixtures or toilets, it may possibly be do to high water pressure and the installation of a pressure regulator may be your best bet.

H.B.& T.S. does not install pressure regulators. We are here to supply the water to your home and to try and serve as many people as possibe in our district. We do not determine how much pressure you as a customer may want or need.

In the state of Tennessee, State Law requires anyone about to engage in either digging, excavating, or any other type of activity that disturbs the earth to notify Tennessee One Call. This one simple call can protect you from being liable should a utility line be disturbed or cut.

After providing the location and the scope of your work to Tennessee One Call a locate ticket with an identification number will then be provided to you and Tennessee One Call will then notify member utilities in your area of your proposed work along with your locate/identification number.

After Tennessee One Call notifies the utilities, each utility member’s locator will then have 72 hours, excluding holidays, weekends and or emergencies, to locate any underground facilities buried within the scope of your work.

The simple answer is yes, but typically, water outages due to anything from storms to water main breaks will not impact your residences service line or the quality of your water. Occasionally however, air pockets can occur, causing cloudy, milky or discolored water. Enough of this air pressure could cause plumbing issues due to what is known as “water hammer”. This is a condition where water begins to enter back into your water line after an outage and it forces the existing empty lines to air out. Causing rattling pipes and bursts of water and air to come from your faucets.

If you are at home during a water outage, we recommend turning your cold water on somewhere within the residence so that any trapped air is released that has built up in your lines as water starts to refill them.

Just remember to turn this water back off if you need to leave before the outage is over to prevent damage from a sink or tub running over. If you pump water to your residence, make sure that your pump is equipped with both a low-pressure switch and an air relief valve to keep from burning up the pump and motor. Outages are going to occur from time to time and residences above 850’ in elevation suffer the most during these times. HB&TS is not responsible for damaged pumps so make sure your pump is equipped with the parts mentioned above or that you can turn the pump off and on manually when necessary.

I didn’t receive a bill.

If you do not receive a bill, please contact one of our customer service representatives at 615-794-7796 or utilize our online portal to obtain your current balance or to correct any mailing issues that may be happening. Failure to receive a monthly bill does not exempt you “The Customer” from your payment obligations. This includes late or disconnection fees for non-payment.

Is a discount or adjustment given for filling a pool?

No discounts or adjustments are offered for filling a pool.

Where is my meter and its shutoff valve located?

All meters apart from some apartment and multi work/residential units are located outside buried in the ground and inside of a meter box located near the front property line from the street. While most businesses and residences are equipped with a shutoff valve located near the hot water heater, sometimes this is not the case. If this is the case, the shutoff valve located inside the meter box can be used by using a crescent or Tee cutoff wrench. (Turn clockwise to shutoff and counterclockwise to cut on.)

Where does HB&TS ‘s maintenance responsibilities end and where do mine begin.

HB&TS is responsible for everything up to the point of connection with the customer’s private water line. Once water passes through the meter HB&TS no longer has control over materials used or installed. This is the customer’s responsibility. If a backflow prevention device is located on the premises, HB&TS does maintain records and require it to be tested yearly, however it is ultimately the customer’s responsibility to assure that it is maintained and in proper working condition.

First go out to your meter and see if the reading on it has progressed higher than the current reading on your bill. Your meter is read in gallons and the display is much like that of a car odometer in how it progresses. If the reading is found to be in error by you call our customer service representatives at 615-794-7796 and inform them of your finding. A field representative will then be sent out to validate the reading and if it is found to be in error a new bill will be calculated and if already paid by you, either you will be reimbursed, or a credit will be placed on your account.

If the reading is correct, then check to see if you have a leak or can remember any repairs or other issues that may have occurred during the timeframe on the bill.

HB&TS uses two styles of meters. One is digital and the other is analog.

No matter which style of meter you have it collects data every 15 minutes.

With the digital style you will need a good light source to get the reading to become visible. If you do have a possible leak a water spigot icon will be visible above the meters water reading. It will either be seen flashing intermittently or stay permanent. If it is permanent, then this means that every 15 minutes that it has collected data water has been used. This would not be normal for the average residence and would be a good indicator of a possible leak. At this point look also at the flow indicator. This flow rate flashes back and forth between the meter reading and itself, also in gallons. If there is a flow rate and you are sure no water is being used this would also be a good indicator of a possible leak.

The analog style meter only shows your meter reading in gallons along with a small sweeping hand that goes from 0 to 9 on its face. This sweeping hand is your leak indicator. One complete revolution of it is 1/10 of a gallon. If you are sure that no water is being used at your residence and this hand is turning, this would be a good indicator of a possible leak.

If requested, normally within 2 to 3 working days of being notified, HB&TS can data log your water usage over the last 90-day period. This 90 day starts and runs backwards from the date the field representative arrives at your residence.

HB&TS is not responsible for informing customers of high usage or in the decision to obtain a plumbing or leak detection company to find or make any repairs. This is the sole responsibility of you, the customer.

Tennessee Department of Environment & Conservation - www.state.tn.us/environment

The Environmental Protection Agency WaterSense - WaterSense

American Water Works Association - AWWA

Tennessee Association of Utility Districts - TAUD

More to come soon! .