Cheap Tony's water leak

It is a Saturday morning and in front of my home is a water main break. The water main being under the street breaks about three times each summer in various spots.

Not to waist the water, I put a water pump in the street by the curb, a hose connected to the pump, then use the water to water the lawn. Cheap Tony at work.

This however is another example of government waste. Where the leak was, the water was rushing out of the group into the air. The first of the city’s crew to arrive set two blue flags in the ground by the water leak. Guessing these little blue flags was to indicate to the repair crew where the leak was. Could they not notice the water gushing out of the ground to determine the origin of the leak?
How much is the city paying those two men to place flags around water leak? Government waste on the municipal level, can only be imagined it amplified on the Federal level