TO THE EDITOR:

Water, water everywhere, but not a drop to drink.

This is what we will soon be saying with this severe drought we're having.

Recently, Governor Perdue mandated that each municipality shall conserve water by reducing their consumption by 10 percent. There are many ways in which our city is saving water. The city has stopped washing city vehicles, postponed the flushing of firehydrants, and even the firedepartment is practicing without water.

So many of our citizens are bending over backwards to findways to conserve for the greater good of the community. Even businesses that are vital parts of our economy are finding ways to conserve.

Why is it then that our city water department, which should be spearheading this conservation effort, has not only turned its back on this mandate but even thumbed its noses at us? What's this, you say? I live next to one of the city's water towers, and on Monday at approximately 1 p.m., the city allowed this water tower to overflow,spewing water for over 20 minutes.

This event has happened numerous times before, usually about once every two weeks, but never during such dire need of water. In the past I have called the water department to report these events, and there have been times that during the night when no one would answer the calls I have resorted to calling 911.

Sometimes the flow has been enough to wash the rocks off my driveway and onto my carport. I have then had to scoop them up and replace them onto the drive. On occasion there has been enough water overflowingthat it has even fallen onto my roof. After numerous calls over the last six years, I gave up on the effort because it never seemed to change anything.

This was before we needed water so badly. So I ask the city, "Why can you not fixthis problem? Is it funding?" Surely not. They want to raise my taxes even higher to pay for other things but I have not heard that they want to fixthis problem.

So I tell my neighbors, "We don't need a pool, just come by the city lot and play under the tower. You'll get showered on for free."

Oh wait. That's not free water. We are paying for it with our water fees and we are just watering the city grass.

TODD REEVES