“Our water meter technology is outdated,” City Manager Bryan Heck said at the recent city commission meeting about the city replacing commercial and residential meters.
The city last year began a four year project to replace every water meter in Springfield, approving an estimated $19.3 million toward improvements to city water and sewer equipment, services and operations.
Many water meters are nearly 30 years old, and smart versions are designed to give more accurate readings. They can also be read from a remote location rather than on site.
City Services Director Chris Moore previously said the majority of the city’s water meters were installed between 1994 and 1996.
The city entered into a three-year, up to $1.4 million contract with Ferguson in 2022 to buy water meter equipment with the price listed as a single annual amount of $17,389 for one base station, six repeaters and 2,500 meters as an initial estimate. Since then, the utilities department has installed more meters than the estimate and added an additional repeater.
The city later approved two one-year renewal options and increased the contract to up to $9.5 million for a full five-year term.
The contract now reflects unit pricing to scale with actual systems in use. Under the contract, base stations cost $8,500 each annually, repeaters cost $850 each annually and any size meters cost $1.52 each annually.
The city commission last year approved utility rate increases of 12%, 1% and 25 cents on Jan. 1, 2025 and Jan. 1, 2026 for water, sewer and stormwater respectively. This was in response to rising operational costs and the need to maintain and upgrade infrastructure, Finance Director Katie Eviston said at the time.
Springfield had seen a more than $1 million annual increase in the cost to treat water since 2021, Eviston previously said.
Clark County this year increased water and sewer rates for customers connected to Springfield water, including Northridge, Limecrest and Rockaway by 3.5% for sewer and 12% for water. The county purchases water and sewer service from the city to serve residents in these areas and dictates billing rates.
About the Author
