First Request: May 1

Someone from the neighborhood went online to report water coming from the street pavement. When asked to select a problem, they picked Roads and Alleys —> Sinkhole.

The citizen – apparently adapting to the nomenclature presented – wrote that a “sinkhole” has been forming for two months on a street near his house. “The ground is sinking and there is water coming out of the crack that never dries out. … Hope it’s not a water main issue. Thank you!”

In the Department of Utilities (DPU) lexicon “sinkhole” is a very specific reference to a leak caused by a sewer line. This ensured the department would dispatch a worker who was not authorized to work on a water line.

DPU Action: A DPU employee who visited the site on May 20 determined the problem did not involve a sewer line and marked the request “closed.” The employee noted: “Dispatch has been notified so the correct department can be notified.”

Second Request: May 20

A RVA311 operator received a report of a possible broken water main at Ashburn and Ellwood. The operator wrote: “Citizen stated that a water amin [sic] is broken i [sic] which is causing the flooding in the alley and the main street …. Sink hole [sic] has formed as well and is more than 12 in deep.”

The request generated a new ticket that was not associated with the same problem reported a few weeks earlier.

The RVA311 operator logged the complaint as “sinkhole,” which ensured that, just like the May 1 request, the case would be assigned to the wrong DPU team.

DPU Action: On October 6, status of the RVA311 ticket was changed to closed.

Third Request: July 4

On July 4, the author of this article went online to report a possible leaking water meter or water main. When presented with options, the author chose Stormwater and Drainage —> Standing Water

“There has been milky water standing in the northwest corner of this intersection for several week, even on days when there is no rain. I suspect this is a leak from a water meter or a water line.”

In the department’s structure, “standing water” refers to problems with stormwater drainage, not water lines. This would ensure that DPU would dispatch someone qualified to address stormwater, not water lines.

DPU Action: On August 20 a department field engineer called the author to inform him that the case had been assigned to the wrong section. “I’m just trying to figure out what is going on,” the DPU employee said. The author informed the employee that the issue had been resolved nearly a month earlier. On August 30, the RVA311 ticket was marked closed.