LINCOLN -- There's a discrepancy between what Benton Washington Regional Public Water Authority is charging the city of Lincoln for water consumption and what the city's records show as its usage. City officials are trying to figure out why.
Lincoln City Council at its April 20 meeting approved the purchase of a master water meter from Core & Main for $7,454 to verify its water consumption data to present to the authority, or Two Ton as it is commonly known, and to preserve its rights in any future court proceedings.
The ordinance states that the city "needs a new master meter to accurately gauge the city's total water consumption over any given period of time."
Mayor Doug Hutchens last week said city staff knew water consumption would increase when the city filled up its 2-million-gallon new water storage tank in late December and early January.
However, water consumption has continued to be up by about 30%, and the city has not been able to find the source of the increased volume, Hutchens said.
"I'm having every part of the system looked at," he said. "I can't make any determination until I get my data."
Right now, he said it's a process of elimination to try to figure out why water usage is up so much.
Normally, the city uses about 20 million gallons of water per month. Now, it is using 31 million gallons of water per month. The difference is costing the city about $20,000 more per month, Hutchens said.
"This is something that just popped up," he said. "It didn't happen gradually."
The city is installing the new master water meter at the source where water comes into the Lincoln water system.
The city contested Two-Ton's charges in a March 18 letter from City Attorney Steve Zega to Scott Borman, general manager for Benton Washington Regional Public Water Authority.
In the letter, Zega said the authority's bills to the city had increased, on the average, by $20,000 per month since the first of the year. The sharp increase was not consistent with the city's consumption history, its modest population growth and internal records of water usage, Zega said.
Zega told Borman the city would continue to pay the authority's water bills for now but would do so "under protest."
He wrote, "We are initiating our own investigation and reserve all rights and remedies available to us under the law."
In a response to Zega on March 22, Borman acknowledged that Lincoln would continue to pay its bill "under protest" but also reminded the city that should it not pay the full amount due the 17th of each month, it would be charged a 10% late payment penalty, under the terms of the water purchase contract.
Borman said reasons for the increase could be the new water storage tank added to the system and the "lead-lag" changes that occur when pumping water in and out of storage.
In addition, Borman said the authority's meter installed on the main meter vault has an accuracy of 0.5%. He said Lincoln could request a technician to verify the meter accuracy, but the cost would be $4,500. If there's a problem with the meter, the authority would pay this cost. If no issues are found, the city of Lincoln would bear the costs, Borman told Zega.
"Our daily numbers do not indicate any higher than normal readings being used on the south end as a whole or by the City of Lincoln so I am not inclined to believe that the meter is actually the problem," Borman wrote.
Borman said other reasons for increased usage could be the condition of Lincoln's individual service meters, leaks in the lines because of cold weather or poor condition, distribution leaks, meter reads from the new pumping station, meter reads from temporary meters or accounting software.
"All of these items can be contributing factors with regard to water loss and are the City of Lincoln's responsibility to correct," Borman said.
Hutchens said the city is not ready to make a statement about the increased water usage and the reason for it.
"Everything is speculation until we get the data," he said, noting, "It's a delicate situation because we have no other source of water, so we want to handle it with kid gloves."