By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
The city of Great Bend's transition to automated water meter readers has not been without its glitches. Public Works Director Jason Cauley announced at the June 19 city council meeting that 237 retrofits had been ordered to complete the project. His department also continues to work on leaks. So far, the city has reduced the number of leaks from around 70 to approximately 40.
"Part of it is old infrastructure," Cauley said. "Part of it was a gasket that the vendor suggested to be used. We found that the gasket does not seal well so we switched to a different type of gasket. That's what some of those are from, but a lot of it is from aging infrastructure."
City crews are using a pair of solutions to address the leaks. Parts are on order for the easier of the two solutions. Crews will revert to the other solution until those parts arrive.
"We've used up all the parts for a basic repair," said Cauley. "Now we are getting into where we will have to dig up the service and replace the whole service because those are the parts we have because we are waiting for the parts for those simple repairs."
Cauley said that makes a timeline for the repair of all leaks tricky. The city will continue to prioritize leaks that cause the greatest amount of stress. "Just know that we are continually working on it until we get it done," he said. "I foresee it taking at least another month or so to get through what we have."