Irvine owes its namesake to James Irvine, whose family was a prominent landowner of hundreds of thousands of acres once belonging to Mexican citizens in the form of ranchos. Now, it’s fortunate enough to be home to upscale housing, affluent residents and a mall one could liken to Santa Monica’s Third Street Promenade.

The Irvine Spectrum, housing the likes of Dave & Busters, Nordstrom’s, and Edward’s 21 Cinemas, even now in 2014, has been emptying pocketbooks and billfolds from all over the county, and that means a lot of foot traffic, and even bathroom traffic. But as the amount of local-tourism money increases, that also means that the tourism population increases, and the current infrastructure simply cannot support.

While the Spectrum—and even many homes in the area—is fairly new, we suspect that there are many areas of Irvine that, since it’s development from the ranchos, have been significantly neglected in their upkeep.

One of those places is excessive plumbing maintenance. We can’t forget: A pedestrian knot in one’s waterworks can quickly make them forget they’re living in a highbrow establishment.

Something else Irvine’s residents might be losing green on is undetected leaks. These are surprisingly prominent in homes that haven’t been checked in several years, and could explain why the Irvine Ranch Water District seems to have bumped up the water bill by 70% in the last three years.

An undetected leak can also lead to inspection nightmares such as buildup and molding. In serious instances, this may warrant condemning the house. A home deserves better treatment than that. The good news is, periodically hiring a local plumber to run hydrostatic tests for leak detection is a viable long-term option that can save more than one ends up spending on the plumber’s services. And, there’s also the peace of mind.

As far as we’re concerned, Irvine’s homes, population, shopping opportunities and silicon plants are right where they belong. But is Orange County’s plumbing where it should be? Have people taken for granted such a luxury as a loo or a shower that they’ve forgotten what can happen when their underlying components give way? Irvine of all places deserves better waterworks.

It’s just a shame James Irvine didn’t establish prestigious plumbing to match the housing it’s in, a sin the city could pay for in due course if not attended to. Don’t let Irvine pay for cheap mistakes made by forefathers, keep your plumbing systems regularly maintained by a local plumber.