March 28, 2024
Photo – Neptune T10 water meter – Courtesy Amazon.com
The Hanna town council is considering a project to replace all water meters in town.
During the March 12th Hanna town council meeting, the council discussed changing the town’s water meters. Public Works Director Larry Korkow said he is exploring a transition to the same Neptune T10 water meters used by other Carbon County towns. Korkow said the town’s current meters are difficult to read.
Korkow said the current meters were installed in the early 1980’s. The public works director said it is time to upgrade the town’s water reading equipment.
Korkow said the Neptune T10 water meters include frost plates. If the meter freezes, the easily replaced frost plate will break first, severing the water connection. This will protect the more expensive water meter from being damaged.
Craig Kopasz from Engineering Associates told the council that switching to the new water meters should be a relatively easy process. Kopasz said he’ll have more information, including price, in the future.
A PRV, or pressure reducing valve, reduces the pressure from the municipal water supply to a safe level for household use.
Hanna is in the process of replacing water lines to residents’ homes. Town Clerk Vivian Gonzales said water meters installed during the water line replacement project require a different piece of equipment to read usage. Clerk Gonzales said having two different devices for reading meters is causing problems.
Public Works Director Korkow said the town will need to purchase 400 Neptune T10 meters. Korkow said the meters cost between $350 and $400 apiece. The price does not include installation or the replacement of pressure reducing valves for each meter.
Additionally, the town will have to buy a new computer to read the meters. Kopasz from Engineering Associates said Saratoga spent $54,000 on the computer control system needed after installing the Neptune water meters.
Kopasz said based on what Saratoga spent on its water meter replacement project, each meter will cost between $64 and $100 to install. The Engineering Associates employee said Hanna’s water meter replacement project is still too early in the planning stage to know the exact cost.
The Hanna town council decided not to make a decision on the water meters until they have more information from the supplier on cost and lead time.
