By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
Access to water is crucial to the growth of rural Kansas. Russell Rural Water District (RWD) No. 3 in Susank has been in operation since 1973 and currently serves approximately 500 customers in parts of four counties. But water loss has long been an issue. Last year, District Manager Jamie Tomlinson announced the district had received a $12.2 million grant from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to replace more than 100 miles of pipe. Part of the upgrade, he said, will include the installation of nearly 500 Neptune Mach 10 automated meters for residential and commercial customers.
"They're a completely electronic meter," Tomlinson said. "There are no moving parts in them whatsoever. It's an ultrasonic reading. Four times a second it sends a pulse through the moving water."
The meters can read water flow, volume, temperature, and even check for backflow. The meters can transmit the information back to RWD staff in one of three ways, including by radio or cellular transmissions. Tomlinson said that will be a huge benefit for customers and staff.
"We've got 275 miles of line with only 500 customers," he said. "With only three employees, two full-time and one part-time, there's a lot time in a day but not enough for us to take care of all of it. These cellular endpoints allow the readings to come back directly to the office."
The Mach 10 meters can read up to 0.001 gallons four times a second. The accuracy and frequency of the readings will help mitigate water loss.
"They can detect a leaky faucet," said Tomlinson. "They can detect a leak under the house. They can detect a leak in the line between the customer meter and the house. We plan on putting four additional in-line meters in the system so we'll be able to watch where the flow goes through the night."
The brunt of the system overall will include the abandonment of 115 miles of PVC material lines that will be replaced with new high-density polyethylene pipes. Tomlinson said the one drawback of the project, which began in the southern part of Russell County in September, will be the possibility of water outages for customers over the next 18 months.