By COLE REIF
Great Bend Post
The City of Great Bend anticipates generating a 2% to 3% increase in revenue with the elimination of aged water meters that have lost accuracy. The city also picked up an annual savings of $49,000 in salaries and benefits by eliminating a fulltime meter reader position. The transition to automated meter readers has plenty of benefits, but the installation has brought its share of issues.
Great Bend Public Works Director Jason Cauley said the switch to the
Automated Meter Infrastructure (AMI) caused 156 leaks throughout town. As of
Monday night, those water meter leaks are down to 36.
"Think of it as a hook on the end that the meter sits down into," said Cauley. "Sometimes the gasket, by taking an old meter out and putting a new meter in, can cause an issue. Water can start leaking and the worse it gets."
City crews are able to repair five to seven meter leaks per week. Cauley
estimated another six weeks will be needed to fix all the leaks. Zenner USA
was hired for the AMI installation for $2.4 million and Cauley said the leaks
are not Zenner’s fault.
"When I was a serviceman in the water department, a lot of times you would change out a meter and it may be a week or two when you notice it's leaking," said Cauley. "That gasket may have been tweaked or something of that nature."
Property owners with leaks have been able to get the extra expense written off
their bills.