Union plumbers and contractors will hold a ?Water?s Off? blitz on April 17 ? providing safety inspections and performing minor plumbing repairs for low-income seniors and disabled homeowners in the Twin Cities.

Union plumbers already work year-round with social service agencies to help homeowners in need, but those repairs are done occasionally, as requests trickle in, said Doug Gale, business manager of St. Paul Plumbers Local 34. This is the first year since 1997 that union plumbers will tackle a pile of repairs in one day. Qualifying households are identified through social service organizations such as Ramsey Action Programs.

Stan Theis, business representative for Local 34, said he expects as many as 200 plumbers to take part, and to visit more than 100 homes. The plumbers will donate their time; union contractors will donate trucks and materials.

Union plumbers will check the safety of water heaters and relief valves, and make minor repairs on leaky faucets and malfunctioning toilets, Theis said. Given that a simple dripping faucet can waste 184 gallons of water a day, ?That adds up to a lot of money,? he said.

The Minnesota Mechanical Contractors Association and the Metro Plumbing Heating Cooling Contractors Association are joining Local 34 and Minneapolis Plumbers Local 15 in sponsoring ?Water?s Off.?

The one-day event is modeled after ?Heat?s On,? a program now in its 19th year, in which union Pipefitters donate their services for one day each fall to provide free furnace inspections and repairs for needy homeowners. Participants will gather at 7 a.m. April 17 at the Earl Brown Center on the University of Minnesota?s St. Paul campus.

Adapted from The Union Advocate, the official newspaper of the St. Paul Trades and Labor Assembly. E-mail The Advocate at: advocate@mtn.org