BY LAYLI WHYTE
Staff Writer

RED BANK — What accounts for a triple-fold increase in water usage at the Red Bank Middle School remains a mystery, according to district Business Administrator Anne Darrow.

Darrow said recently that although members of the Borough Public Works Department came to the school recently to search for a possible leak that could have resulted in a bill that for three times the normal amount of water used, no answer was found.

The bill covered the period from July through October, and indicated that the water usage was an average of 2,000 gallons a day, when the normal daily water usage at the middle school is about 500 gallons.

Darrow said that the usual quarterly bill amounts to about $3,000, but the July through October invoice was for about $10,000.

“Unfortunately,” Darrow said, “we have not identified what the problem is. We thought we had hit on it, but it turned out not to be it.”

Darrow said that during the inspection on Friday, it was found that the automatic toilet flushers were set to use the maximum amount of water.

“We reduced the amount of water they were using,” she said, “and put caps on them, and we were able to reduce our water usage by about 200 gallons. From a conservation point of view, that’s good, but it didn’t turn out to be the problem.”

In addition, Darrow said that she and the maintenance staff at the school have searched for leaks in the pipes, the boilers, expansion tanks and the grounds surrounding the school, and that everything appears to be in working order.

“I wish there was another symptom,” Darrow said, “other than just the high bill.”

Darrow said that the borough, which is helping the district figure out the problem, has offered to reach out to the water company that supplies the water to the borough for six months out of the year, to see if someone there may have a suggestion.

Darrow said she has been told by professionals that this type of problem is not necessarily unusual, but that she is not sure if the district will be responsible to pay the entire July through October bill.