Saratoga Springs: Political leaks of a different sort

The race for DPW includes soggy questions.

From left: Commissioner of Public Works Chuck Marshall. Candidate Bahram Keramati.

When Bahram Keramati built his home on the west side of Saratoga Springs, he specifically asked that a basement be dug for it. And when Witt Construction hacked through the granite, water came in, and it did not stop, he told the Dispatch in a recent interview. He worried over how he would have a basement that was more of a pool than storage and he wondered whether some traditional techniques such as French drains around the foundation would be enough to stop the flood.

And then they tested the water. It had fluorides in it. Therefore, they knew it was not spring water but processed city water.

Witt and Keramati worked with the city, and the Department of Public Works to find the leak. Once the pipe was plugged, his basement and some others nearby, dried up, he said.

“BK,” as he is known, is running for Commissioner of the Department of Public Works, trying to unseat incumbent Commissioner Chuck Marshall who won the seat in a special election in February.

“When I'm thinking about my campaign issues and what they are, one of the major things for me is water and the fact that most people around here are not familiar or aware of how at risk we are with our water infrastructure,” Keramati said.

“It's really interesting because we may be forced, in the future, or soon, to make a decision about alternate water sources for the city, like bringing water from the Hudson River, like, like, digging more wells or whatever. Those are all very expensive,” he said. “And what I'm saying is that, hey, before we consider anything about expanding our water source and what we're going to do, let's figure out what this is.”

One place to look is to stop the leakage. On average nationally, 11% of water is lost to leakage, Keramati said, but it is tough to know just how much leakage Saratoga Springs has.

Just under one-quarter of the city’s water is unaccounted for once it leaves the city’s water treatment facility. That is, last year, the city pumped 1.6 billion gallons, and 380 million gallons — nearly 25% — did not make it to the meters in homes, businesses or other buildings.

However, it’s not all leakage. City buildings, fire stations and hydrants do not have water meters. The city flushes water mains each year for cleaning and that water is unaccounted for.

Marshall agrees: There’s leakage. And both men said that it could easily be 11%.

However, people have to understand the system, Marshall said.

According to the 2024 annual water quality report, the city supplies 28,000 people through 9,680 service connections to buildings. The 142 miles of pipe in the system is created using 20-foot-long sections. Each connection in the pipeline is a potential leak.

“That means there's roughly 38,000 connections,” Marshall said, adding, “anytime there is a connection, there's going to be loss.”