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District plans meter-replacement program; board approves buying parts to refurbish older meters
Summary
Staff reported a water-loss increase and proposed a program to replace meters older than 10 years. The board approved a motion to purchase parts to refurbish meters (tops/bottoms and internal parts) and asked staff to provide vendor price quotes before ordering.
The County Water District board heard a staff report tying recent elevated water loss to aging meters and approved a motion to buy parts to rebuild older meters as a short-term mitigation.
Staff said water loss rose roughly 0.5 percentage points from November to December and that tank performance during recent outages suggested the problem was not major mainline leaks. Staff concluded many Sensus SR2 meters older than 10 years may be under‑reporting usage. The district reported it already has between about 100 and 150 refurbished meters available to put back in service and proposed a meter-replacement plan that would prioritize 10‑plus year meters.
Board members discussed scope and procurement. Staff recommended ordering an initial stock of parts (meter tops/bottoms, internal rebuild kits and related items) and testing/refurbishing units in‑house to avoid buying hundreds of new meters. One board member suggested ordering roughly 25 rebuild kits and other parts as an initial phase and to ramp up as weather permits. Staff said a full rebuild costs far less than buying new meters and that refurbished units, bench-tested, would meet district standards for another service life.
The board approved a motion to purchase meter parts subject to confirming available funds with finance staff. Members asked staff to shop multiple vendors (CI Thornburg, Core & Main and others cited in discussion) and report pricing. Staff will prepare a price list and procurement plan for board review.
Why it matters: replacing or refurbishing malfunctioning meters can reduce apparent water loss, conserve grant/budget dollars and improve billing equity for customers. Staff estimated more than 2,000 meters across the system may be 10+ years old and would eventually need replacement, but the board agreed to begin with a modest parts purchase and an in‑house rebuild effort.
Next steps: staff to obtain vendor quotes, confirm budget availability with finance, and return with a procurement recommendation and cost estimate for larger-scale meter replacements.
