City continues search for water loss

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

The loss of water in Greencastle is of continued concern for officials who are still trying to figure out what's going on.

Utilities Superintendent George Russell said he and his staff are continuing to inspect the water distribution system throughout Greencastle and at the water plant, but they still haven't figured out why they are measuring excessive amounts of unaccounted-for water each month.

At the August meeting of the city council, Russell said he wondered if one of the city's larger customers may be the source of the excessive water.

"We've covered a lot of things in the last several months," Russell said.

Recently he said he checked with other cities and found that they replace their water meters every three years to ensure accuracy.

He said he would like to implement some type of system for changing out meters in Greencastle.

Some meters can cost close to $2,000 to replace, Russell said.

Another area where Russell feels water may be lost is fire hydrants.

"We've gotta get better control on those things," he said.

In the end, lost water is lost revenue for the city, so it's a problem Russell says he is determined to fix.

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  • You might start with keeping accurate tabs on how much water is taken out of the hydrant on Sunset Drive by city employees. I know there are several trips each week made to water the trees on Veteran's Memorial Drive. I know for a fact in years past when residence were ordered not to wash cars and water lawns that the water was still being taken out of this hydrant to water the trees and flowers...sorry, but what is good for the goose is good for the gander.

    -- Posted by mkycrzy1971 on Wed, Sep 17, 2008, at 5:39 PM
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