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.
When the city replaced a water meter at the Baxter Springs Country Club that wasn’t accurately measuring water usage, the country club’s water bill increased beyond what it had budgeted. The council at a recent meeting agreed to reduce the country club’s water rate to $1.81 per 1,000 gallons of water used until April 2008. The rate is equal to the city’s cost plus 10 percent.
Warner said though it’s a reduced rate, the country club is paying more than it had been paying when the water meter wasn’t functioning correctly.
Warner said one other commercial user with an inaccurate water meter had been identified and the meter has been replaced. He declined to name the user.
At the meeting in May when Warner announced the loss of 100 million gallons of water, he said the city must pinpoint the cause before considering a water-rate increase.
“We’ve got to know where the water loss is before we increase the citizens’ rates,” Warner said in May.
He said Wednesday that enough progress has been made to allow for the water rates to be increased.
“I think we’ve identified a lot of the areas” of water loss, Warner said. “I don’t think we can wait much longer to increase the rates.”
Warner said the cost of water-treatment chemicals, electricity and other costs will make an increase necessary soon. He said he didn’t want to comment about the popularity among residents of a water-rate increase after approving reduced rates for the country club.
Loss-reduction recorded
The July 24 report states that unaccounted-for water loss was 18 percent of the amount pumped in June, compared with a 42 percent water loss in May. The report also states that close monitoring of water usage would continue.
Local News
Baxter Springs continues to seek causes of water loss
- Local News
-
-
City wants to buy weather radios for those without
Phil Jones had been working on a construction project outside his house all day on May 22 and was unaware that a tornado watch had been issued. Once he was inside, though, his weather radio went off, and he learned that a warning had been issued.
-
Architects present preliminary JHS plans at community meeting
Reaction appeared mostly supportive Thursday night among the roughly 50 people who attended a community meeting at which architects presented their preliminary site plans for the future combined Joplin High School and Franklin Technology Center.
-
Confessed shooter testifies against co-defendants in Pittsburg murder case
Rickey Smith testified Thursday that as he came in the back door of Ryan Bailey’s home in Pittsburg with a 9 mm pistol in his hand, Bailey looked up from the couch in his living room.
-
School district’s proposed street-closing plan questioned
Plans to close some streets near the proposed Joplin High School drew questions, including a challenge from a former Joplin mayor, during a public hearing this week.
-
Neosho council approves new golf cart contract
The purchase of golf carts was back on the agenda this week for the Neosho City Council. City Attorney Steve Hays said there were errors in the financing terms that were part of a bid approved last month for the purchase of 55 gas-powered carts from E-Z-Go for $144,195, so the purchase of a new fleet was rebid.
-
Mike Pound: Spirit of competition evident during double-overtime game
When I played basketball in high school, I played in several very close games.
Now, some people who may have known me in high school are probably laughing right now and saying, “What Mike meant to say is that when he was in high school, he came very close to playing in some games.” -
Mo. optometrist filed $40 million refund claim
A southwest Missouri optometrist who filed a tax return claiming a $40 million refund has been sentenced to four years and three months in federal prison.
-
Okla. receives waiver from No Child Left Behind
Oklahoma’s top education official reacted with glee Thursday with the announcement that the state is one of 10 states being granted a waiver from the federal No Child Left Behind law that requires students be proficient in reading and math by 2014 — but focused on getting students to “just pass the tests.”
-
Kan. House approves bipartisan redistricting bill
Power in the Kansas House is likely to shift next year from rural parts of the state to the Kansas City area after members overwhelmingly approved a bipartisan bill Thursday for redrawing their districts.
-
Fugitive in 1993 British heist arrested in Ozark
A man suspected of stealing about $1.5 million from a security van in England in 1993 has been arrested in southwest Missouri.
- More Local News Headlines
-
Obama Gives Education Waivers to 10 States
Giffords Aide to Run for Her Seat
LA School in Sex Abuse Scandal Reopens
Winter Slamming North Asia, Parts of Europe
Syrian Forces Renew Bombardment of Homs
States, Banks Reach Foreclosure-abuse Settlement
Raw Video: Italy's Mount Etna Bursts Into Life
Greeks March; Angry Despite Debt Deal
Raw Video: U.S. Pullout Celebration
Raw Video: Annual Empire State Building Run-Up
Man Killed in Courthouse Shootout
Air Force Airlines: Leaders Get Polished Service
Ga Girl Fights Off Kidnapper at Walmart
Nevada Highway Patrol, City Settle Beating Case
Homs Bombardment Continues, Global Outcry Grows
Raw Video: Dog Rescued From Icy Colo. Water
Skip the Coffee Cup and Inhale Your Caffeine Fix
