LINCOLN -- The city of Lincoln still is trying to figure out why it has excessive water loss and has an engineering firm looking at its data to try to come up with some answers, according to Mayor Doug Hutchins.
Earlier this year, there was a discrepancy between what Benton Washington Regional Public Water Authority (Two Ton) was charging the city of Lincoln for water consumption and what the city's records showed as its usage.
Lincoln then installed a master water meter to verify its water consumption from Two Ton.
These numbers are now more in line, Hutchins said, but the city still is dealing with about 60% water loss since the first of the year. On the average, Lincoln's water loss has been 35-40%. Hutchins defines water loss as the amount of water purchased from Two Ton versus the gallons of water billed to Lincoln customers.
Last week, Hutchins told city council members that Lincoln is not the only city dealing with the water loss issue but Lincoln is on the forefront of trying to find answers.
One of the anomalies, Hutchins said, is that Lincoln and other cities are having a deduction in sales but an increase in water purchases from Two Ton.
He said it's probably not any one thing, and possibilities include water leaks, illegal water taps and additional usage by fire department. Another change, he said, is that Two Ton has installed a new master meter, and it's possible the new meter is more efficient.
"I have people a whole lot smarter than me looking at it," Hutchins said.
He said the city will probably bring in a leak detection crew and plans to evaluate its billing system and meter reading system to see if anything turns up there.
The water loss is costing the city of Lincoln an extra $16,000-$20,000 each month. Hutchins said the city can afford the cost this year, but it is not sustainable.
"If we can't find a reason we can repair, we'll have to make adjustments next year," Hutchins said.
Josh Moore, manager of Washington Water Authority, said the typical utility company always is "chasing something," trying to figure out issues.
"We have leaks all the time," Moore said.
Moore said he has looked at Lincoln's system with Mike Taggart, chairman of the board of directors for Two Ton, but noted he does not have all the data from Lincoln's water system.
Moore said his "educated guess" is that the water loss most likely is from water leaks.
Washington Water Authority has 7,300 customers, and it recently replaced 6,300 meters. The system's annual water loss is about 40-45%, and Moore said that's more than he wants. He said he hopes the new meters will help with water loss.
Scott Gorman, general manager with Two Ton, said the water authority has paid for calibration technicians to check out its master meters for water going into the Lincoln system, and everything has come out fine.
"Quite honestly, we haven't seen anything that shows our meter is not accurate," Gorman said last week.
Gorman said there is a discrepancy for some reason, but he said tests do not show Two Ton's master meters are the problem.
"I run 17 million to 18 million gallons (of water) a day out of here," Gorman said. "There's always water loss going on. It's the nature of the business."
Two Ton has installed new master meters and the same technology is used throughout the system for almost all customers, Gorman said. The new meters are more accurate on high flow and pick up low flow, he added.
"If we knew definitively there was something wrong with our meter, we would make it right," Gorman said, "but I can't find anything."
Hutchins said Taggart has asked the city to submit a report describing what it has found in trying to figure out the reasons for the water loss and that's what the engineering firm is going to help put together.
The problem, Hutchins said, is that the city has not found out anything conclusively yet to explain the problem.