Water service inside the bank was shut off for a couple of hours after a teacher driving by decided to teach the bank a lesson about water conservation.

“I see their water sprinklers going, water all over the sidewalk, all over everywhere else,” said Douglasville resident Bill Kecskes.

It was a sight Kecskes hadn’t seen in awhile. “Look, a year ago, two years ago, you’d have thought nothing of it,” he said.

But while on his way to work, he was stunned to see a commodity the area needs so badly, literally going down the drain at a local BB&T Bank. The bank was violating the county’s strict no outdoor watering ban. Its sprinklers were on full blast. Kecskes immediately called the water authority.

“Lo and behold we did find them watering. They were irrigating their front yard and so it was locked,” said Peter Frost with the Water and Sewer Authority. That means, per policy, the county turned the bank’s water service off. “There will be a $1,000 fine added to their water bill,” said Frost.

Bank customers said with the drought they’re in, the bank should know better. “If we can’t have no flowers, why should they have sprinklers on,” said resident Mildred Arnold.

The bank’s manager told Channel 2 Action News he is embarrassed by the unfortunate incident and blamed vandals for tampering with the sprinkler system. Kecskes said he found that hard to believe. “Are they going to tell you next they leave the bank vault open and it’s not their fault somebody came in and took the money,” asked Kecskes.

Kecskes, a teacher, hopes the bank learned a lesson about water conservation. “It’s a serious problem and we all have to do our part,” he said. And that’s the message the water authority wants people to get from this. Everyone – even banks – have to help conserve water.