Soap Lake to install new water meters, remote reading system

SOAP LAKE — Soap Lake city government plans to add radio equipment to all residential and commercial water meters in the city this year. At the same time, the city will replace hundreds of older meters.

Residents will see contractor crews in city streets and alleys working on the project in the next few months. More than 700 water meters may be modified or replaced, according to information provided by Mayor Alex Kovach.

Soap Lake has been replacing its aging municipal water meters — many around 40 years old — with digital units that can be read remotely. The goal is to account for all the water used in the city. In recent years, residents were not billed for as much as 27 percent of the water provided.

The new, more accurate meters may cause some residents to see higher water bills in the future.

New radio equipment will save staff time, reducing meter reading from 24 hours to three to four hours per month. The hours saved amount to about $15,000 each year in city staff labor. Those staff hours may be directed instead to other maintenance work. The new system is expected also to help meter reading during winter.