After KSAT calls, SAWS finds source of mysterious water leak

Unknown how much water lost in NE Side neighborhood

SAN ANTONIO – In response to a KSAT 12 viewer complaint, SAWS located the source of a persistent water leak late Friday afternoon in a Northeast Side neighborhood.

Spokesperson Anne Hayden said a crew was on scene to repair the problem that had frustrated resident Roxane Cash and other neighbors along a concrete culvert.

Cash said the constant flow of water over several months had created a man-made creek and a wall of weeds several feet high.

“It’s just been a problem with mosquitoes and fleas, and a snake came up on me Monday,” Cash said.
She said it was the garden variety but still unnerving.

Cash said more than anything, she was bothered by the obvious waste of water. She had contacted SAWS about the problem, but Cash said she was told maybe it was water coming from people draining their swimming pools.

Cash said at that point, they didn’t know the source and that a crew would have to find it. “I said, ‘Send two or three crews out here, whatever you have to do to get it fixed,’” Cash said.

She also contacted KSAT 12 News.

Hayden said SAWS pinpointed the leak near a storm drain at Tarry Town and Thomas Sumter, in the subdivision that neighbors where Cash lives in Feather Ridge.

However, it’s too soon to say how long it had been leaking, what caused it or how much water was lost.

Also in response to Cash’s complaint, the Metropolitan Health District sent a crew to spray for any mosquitoes in stagnant water. 

Now that SAWS is repairing the link, stopping the flow of water will allow other crews to cut down the weeds in the culvert.

Cash said, “Their machine could get stuck, I understand that.”


About the Author:

Jessie Degollado has been with KSAT since 1984. She is a general assignments reporter who covers a wide variety of stories. Raised in Laredo and as an anchor/reporter at KRGV in the Rio Grande Valley, Jessie is especially familiar with border and immigration issues. In 2007, Jessie also was inducted into the San Antonio Women's Hall of Fame.