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Burke County awards $751,736 water‑meter purchase and $175,625 installation contracts, funded by state grants
Summary
The board approved purchase and installation contracts to replace roughly 2,240 residential water meters across three county systems. Total low bids were $751,736.42 for meters (Core & Main) and $175,625.92 for installation (RTS Water Solutions); funding comes from $1.3 million in state grants previously awarded.
Burke County commissioners on April 21 approved contracts to replace the county’s residential water meters, awarding the meter purchase to Core & Main and installation services to RTS Water Solutions. The two low bids together cover the purchase and installation of roughly 2,240 meters across the county’s three systems.
Mark Delha, the county’s general services director, told the board the project ‘‘will constitute a complete replacement of all of Burke County's residential customer water meters.’’ He said county systems total about 103 miles of water line and roughly 2,000 customers on the principal Burke South system, plus smaller systems elsewhere.
The county received multiple bids: Core & Main submitted the low bid to supply Neptune T-10 meters and associated hardware for $576,110.50, and RTS (via Envirocore/RTS Water Solutions) submitted the low installation bid for $175,625.92. Commissioners approved both awards; the combined award total reported in staff materials was $751,736.42 for the combined purchase and installation line items, and the agenda motion listed the separate contract amounts.
Delha said the Neptune T-10 meters store 96 days of hourly usage history and generate flags for leaks, backflow and tampering; the meters come with a 10-year replacement warranty. He described three reading technologies and explained that automatic meter reading (AMR) drive-by technology is appropriate for Burke County’s terrain.
The project carries a 150-day contractor performance timeline and a $250-per-day penalty for failure to complete on schedule. Delha said the county received a total of $1.3 million in state grant funds (a 2021 grant of about $1.1 million and an additional $200,000 in 2023) to pay for the project. Staff said remaining grant funds will be held for other water/sewer needs.
Commissioners discussed expected operational benefits: improved meter accuracy, better detection of leaks and backflow, and a reduction in unmetered/unaccounted-for water. Staff told the board that aging meters (12–15 years old in many cases) lose accuracy and battery capacity, contributing to measurement loss. The county will work with vendors to track installation progress and maintain records; the contractor will provide photographic and data verification for each installed meter.
