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Water leak repair effort progressing
Public Works keeping busy
water meter leaks
A leaking Great Bend water meter is shown. City officials stress crews are working as fast as possible to address leaks.
water meters
This is a picture of what a water meter looks like after the installation of the automated meter reading system.

Strides are being made in the effort to address leaking meters throughout the City of Great Bend caused by the new automated water meter system installation, City Administrator Brandon Anderson said, addressing the City Council this week. He brought in Public Works Director Jason Cauley to give an update on the work. 

“I know everyone’s been concerned about the progress we’re making on the leaks and I know Jason’s department’s been working really hard,” Anderson said.

“We have fixed 215 leaks so far this year,” Cauley said of the Public Works Water Division. “And we have dwindled our AMI (automated water meter reading system) leaks down about 17.”

They planned to tackle about five more this past week. “We’re making progress without a doubt,” he said.

His crews are going through and replacing the whole setter, he said. They have to dig up the meter pit, take the meter off-line, remove the meter, and put in new inflow and outflow pipes.

Multiple issues caused the leaks, but the biggest problem Cauley’s department encountered was what they consider the meter bends. These are basically a hook on the pipe that the meter sits on and attaches to. 

There are gaskets that seal these and sometimes they can start to seep, allowing the face on the meter bend to erode. There are many reasons for this – how the gaskets were installed in the first place or the age of the equipment.

The AMI system is a $2.4 million project that started this spring to replace all of the roughly 6,600 water meters on the city-owned water utility with a new automated meter reading system. Zenner USA of Banning, Calif., is the general contractor and Municipal Install of St. Louis, Mo., is the subcontractor putting the meters in place.

After the installation, the leaks started.

Automated meter reading systems record the usage and beam it directly to the Water Office at the Front Door Facility. Usage can be read and tracked in real-time.

The property owners don’t get billed for the water usage caused by the leaks. Anyone with further concerns or issues, can contact Utilities at 620-793-4170 or the Front Door Building at 620-793-4100.

Those with questions can also contact Cauley at 620-793-4150 or jcauley@greatbendks.net.