VENICE - Thousands of gallons of drinking water are going down the drain in Venice.  ABC 7 has received a number of phone calls and emails about it.  Workers at the Sarasota County Utility Department say it's necessary to keep the water quality up to standards...others say it's a waste.

On the side of U.S. 41 in Venice you can find water rushing from a fire hydrant.  24 hours a day it goes straight down into a storm drain.  Sarasota County Utilities Manager Verne Hall says it's necessary.  "This is a constant flow in order to keep this water fresh in this pipe because of the minimal amounts of usage by the businesses in this area."  Basically, the businesses along the stretch aren't using enough water.

By their own estimates, Hall believes between 8 and 12 gallons comes out every minute.  At an average of 10, that's 14,400 gallons a day of clean drinking water.  Hall says they have to keep fresh water in the pipes.  "Failure to meet the water quality standards is much, much worse then the flushing of a little bit of water to maintain those standards."

The water quality is regulated by the Department of Environmental Protection and the Health Department.  One of the problems is location.  It's at the end of Sarasota County's pipeline leading up to the city of Venice.  "We prefer to loop our lines but there are certain situations were it's just not feasible."

While utility workers say the flushing needs to be done, they admit this particular system isn't the best answer.  "This is one that kind of got away from us."

The water has been running there for at least a year.  It's prompted a number of calls and emails to ABC 7.  By the way that's an estimated 5.2 million gallons if you're counting at home.  Hall says those concerns are now being heard.  "This obviously is not intended to be a long term instillation.  There are some things that we are going to make some changes here so that the appearance is a lot more palatable."

Hopefully the fix is more than concealing the situation, especially in a time when citizens are asked to save every drop.  "This is the last resort for us but in certain circumstances it's the best we can do."

Again, the utilities department says the flushing is necessary for the health of those who use water in the area.  They are however looking into an automatic flushing system for the site that could reduce the amount of water going to waste.