CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Ahead of mandatory drought restrictions that take effect May 15, the city of Charlotte continues urging customers to use less water, but a WCNC Charlotte investigation found the city needs to do its part, too.
By its own estimates, Charlotte Water loses about 15% of the water it treats every year. Last year alone, public records show the number of leaks grew and so did the time it took for the city to make repairs.
As kids trickled out of Smithfield Elementary School for the weekend on a Friday in April, their excitement drowned out the sound of something else getting out: water dripping under a nearby vault. For nearly a full year, the lingering leak has left the school’s athletic field overwatered.
A viewer alerted WCNC Charlotte to the leak after they and Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools reached out to the city “multiple times to address the issue” with no resolution…