Carthage OKs audit on water meter system, eyes upgraded system

The City of Carthage will spend $29,960 to have a performance audit done on its water and water meter system, looking at replacing meters throughout the city and repairing manholes.

City officials estimate the upgrades would earn the city about $3 million more in revenue over a 20-year period. The audit would confirm or deny that estimate, City Manager Steve Williams said.

“If it does not fund itself, you can’t do the project,” Williams said. “So they’ll come in and do the end up audit and verify all the numbers.”

Under the agreement recently approved by the City Commission, the city will only pay the $29,000 if the audit shows that the proposed project will pay for itself. If the audit shows that it will not pay for itself, the city will not owe anything. Williams said if the project works financially, the city can then decide if it wants to proceed on the actual improvements.

The city currently uses a system where water department employees drive around town and use radio antennas to collect water meter readings, which are manual systems. Williams noted the city began replacing water meters to the current system about 15 years ago, and many of those meters are reaching the end of their 20-year lifespan. Williams noted the city would need to replace them at some point anyways.

“The new ones they caught up, they’re ultrasonic,” Williams said. “So there are no moving parts, and so you get a better, more efficient rate to that.”

Upgraded water meters would be available digitally and automatically sent to City Hall — meaning if there’s a water leak, the city would know immediately, and customers would be able to use an app to be notified of issues.

“So if you have a leak in your house, instead of being — by the time we read the meters and you get the bill, it’s about six weeks,” Williams said. “So instead of waiting six weeks, you can find that out almost immediately also. So I think it’s a good thing for our citizens, but also an upgrade to our major system.”

The estimated savings comes from more correct water meter readings and, by fixing manholes, saving water treatment costs.

“When you have a rain, you have infiltration, that infiltration goes to your sewer plan, and you have to treat that water as if it’s waste, right?” Williams said. “And so there’s a savings of electricity in the numbers.”

Williams said if the city upgrades to the new meters, it would not mean the loss of any employees in the water department. Staff currently conducting meter readings would be able to use the freed-up time for other needed duties.

“We run real efficient in all of our department right now; we don’t have extra people out there,” Williams said. “And matter of fact, when it gets really busy we could use another person.”