Who does an older woman who lives alone call when her water heater goes out in the middle of the night — or anytime for that matter?

I called a plumber thinking it would be the wrong place to call, but that they’d know the right place. Turns out they were the right place. Matt Moodenbaugh, the owner of MJ Plumbing, said most plumbers deal with hot water heaters. Plus, plumbers are used to getting calls at strange hours. This is why there’s an overtime charge. Any work that happens after 4:30 p.m. on weekdays or on weekends is time and a half, Moodenbaugh said.

Smart business owner that Moodenbaugh appears to be, he made sure to mention there’s no travel charge unless the home is pretty far out in the corners of the valley.

He said though most people don’t take showers in the middle of the night, he’ll come out if there’s no hot water. He said most late night calls deal with dangerous or damaging situations like a broken gas line or a leaky hot water tank soaking a floor, basement or attic. No one wants to wait until business hours to take care of a wet carpet or floor or a gas leak.

He said that if he can, he’ll talk a customer through a quick fix to get the emergency under control.

Moodenbaugh said he deals with about five water heaters on a typical weekend. Weekends are prime time for water heater problems because people are home more and use the hot water more, so they’d notice it more.

It’s my understanding that the huge water storage tank buried underground on Lakeview, in Alta Heights, is used as an emergency water source. Are the two water tanks being installed on Montecito Road used on a daily basis or are they for contingency purposes?

I checked in with the Napa Water District, and water engineer Megan Thomas on this moist matter. She said the two tanks on Montecito are used for different purposes. One is at lower elevation, and it serves the water needs of about 500 Alta Heights residents. The higher one is for emergencies. It’s placed at the highest Alta Heights elevation possible, Thomas said, and the 60,000 gallons of water are used for any fires between it and the lower tank.

The lower one is about a mile down Montecito, holding 80,000 gallons, she said. They both were replaced recently due to their small capacity — 44,000 gallons before the change-up — and for a seismic retrofit. She said they were both deteriorating inside, not surprising since they were put up 40-50 years ago, about the same time development started in earnest in the Alta Heights area.

The two tanks get their water from the Lakeview pump station, which gets its 5 million treated gallons from Lake Hennessey and the American Canyon treatment plant. According to Thomas, the underground reservoir serves downtown Napa on a daily basis.

What is Glad You Asked?

Glad You Asked attempts to answer readers’ questions. If you’re floating your summer away sipping on a cool drink on a raft in a pool and just idly wondering about the ways of the world, send your question to me at jdecker@napanews.com. I’ll search from the high dive to the deep end to find your answer.