Carl and Jay

Jay (and Carl) are in town, because she is attending a conference here. She is a water engineer, so I image that her conference is all about water. What do you want to drink? Why, water of course. Here in Saint Louis, we have two kinds of water, Mississippi and Missouri River water. In the county, our water is drawn from the Missouri, while in the city, the water comes from the Mississippi. Well, mostly. The city draws its water below the confluence, so it is really more of a half-and-half affair. It gets even more complicated than that, because one water company serves both halves, County Water. Living in the county, I pay for the water I use. I have a water meter and when I water the lawn in the summer, by bill goes up. City residents pay a flat rate, regardless of how much they use. This has led to some unusual practices. In the summer, in addition to watering their lawns, some people have been known to also water their roofs. The idea being that sprinkling cooling water on their roof lowers their electric bill. Since the water doesn’t cost them anymore, why not? Practices like these has led to some muttering on the park of county residents. One thing that I have repeatedly heard from Saint Louisans is that we have the best water. I mean the water is fine, but the best? Really? Anyway, the water company touts surveys asserting this fact. Mark Twain once said, “The Missouri River is too thick to drink, and too thin to plow.” So, considering how it starts out, it ends up pretty good at the tap.