By Roger McKinney

rmckinney@joplinglobe.com

BAXTER SPRINGS, Kan. — Baxter Springs city officials have begun working to reduce the estimated 100 million gallons of water for which the city could not account last year.

City Councilman Larry Warner, chairman of the Baxter Springs Water Committee, reported the 100-million-gallon water loss to the council in May. The council appointed a committee of city staff members to find the cause of the loss and report back to the council in July.

The July 24 report does not specify a source for the loss, but states that the Kansas Rural Water Association made several recommendations after visiting town from February through May. The recommendations included:

n Calibrate meters at the water treatment plant.

n Replace all high-flow meters with compound meters to accurately measure low-volume water usage.

n Confirm that position-sensitive meters are installed properly.

n Start a residential meter replacement program for all meters that are either 10 years old or have recorded a million gallons of water.

Warner said Wednesday that it may be difficult for the city to identify all sources of water loss.

“This is an old system,” Warner said. “Our infrastructure is showing signs of weakness. We believe we have leaks.”

Warner said many towns face the same problems, naming Neosho, Mo., as one.

Neosho City Manager Jan Blase said his town does have a problem with water loss, because of the age of the system. He said Neosho has undergone a program of meter replacement and billing analysis. The town also is paying firms to detect leaks in the system. He said more information will be shared at a meeting on Sept. 4.

“We’ve changed out every meter in town,” Blase said.

Warner said the Kansas Rural Water Association is helping the city with its equipment that can identify the sources of leaks.