‘Big Brother’ water meters

I was greeted recently by a “door hanger” from the city of Fresno. This hanger was a courtesy notice to inform me that my sprinkler system possibly is operating during restricted time/day.

I contacted the water meter division and asked, “What did I do wrong?” I have been very conscious of our watering rules and have been very diligent on water conservation. I was told that I had used over 350 gallons within a one-hour period. That is what triggered the door hanger. The problem is that this occurred on my assigned watering day. I did nothing wrong!

When the city went to the electronic water meters, I remember an article in The Bee quoting a water department official stating: The city will not be using the meters’ electronic monitoring and software to be “Big Brother.” Yet this is exactly what the city of Fresno is doing.

Obviously, water is a precious resource. So is taxpayer money. Sending a city employee out to hang a “courtesy notice” is unnecessary and expensive, especially when I did nothing wrong! This just another example of waste and excessive government oversight.

This story was originally published May 14, 2016 at 4:17 PM with the headline "‘Big Brother’ water meters."