Andy Tullis / Bulletin file photoA city of Redmond employee checks a water meter transmitting unit in fall 2014. The city is looking at a 2 percent water rate increase to help pay for replacing aging pipes and water meters, as well as for two new positions for the Water Division.

The city of Redmond is looking at a 2 percent water rate increase to help pay for replacing pipes and meters and for two new positions for the Water Division.

The rate hike wouldn’t be approved until the 2016-2017 budget is adopted by the City Council this summer; it would be applied to both the water consumption and fixed flat monthly rates — currently $1.15 per 100 cubic feet of water and $14.32, respectively, for a single-family home.

Water Division Manager Dustan Campbell said the average user could expect to see a monthly water bill increase of about 63 cents.

The increase would bring in about $108,000 annually for the Water Division, which Jason Neff, Redmond’s deputy director of central services, said would help with replacing the city’s water meters as they near the end of their 10-year life expectancy, replacing 28 miles of old steel pipe and funding two new full-time positions.

“We feel that it’s necessary, hoping to save more for the (meter) project; we also have PERS (pension) increases and we have pipe replacement,” Neff said at a recent budget committee discussion. “We’re trying to avoid sharp increases.”

Redmond raised water rates 3 percent in 2011-2012, 2012-2013 and 2013-2014, and 4 percent in 2014-2015. There was no increase in the current fiscal year.

The money that the division is saving for water meter replacement wouldn’t be spent until about 2020, Campbell said.

That’s when the city is planning on replacing around 9,800 water meters at a price of about $200 a meter, even though that price may change in the coming years.

The current meters, installed in 2007, transmit usage readings electronically, but as they age the readings can become inaccurate or the batteries that power the transmitters can fail altogether.

“As the meters age they tend to not pick up all the water that goes through the meter, so there could be a revenue loss there,” he said.

Campbell said that since the last water year — October through September — the Water Division has registered a 1 percent drop in residential water consumption citywide, which he attributed to both conservation efforts and meter deficiencies. Last water year the city saw a total water usage of 2.13 billion gallons, he said.

As for the meters’ batteries, Campbell said there haven’t been any widespread failures yet, only minor incidents. The new meters will have batteries that last up to 20 years.

“That’s primarily where the problem lies — the battery will expire and (the current meters) are only warranted up to a 10-year period,” he said.

The 28 miles of steel pipe the city aims to replace with a newer industry standard pipe will cost the Water Division about $2 million a year until the project is complete, Campbell said.

“It’s about a third of the budget,” he said, adding the city is replacing the pipe at about 1 to 2 miles per year, which means the 28 miles of steel pipe will be completely replaced in more than a decade. According to the 2015-2016 budget, $1.6 million was allocated for pipe replacement, which allows for 1.5 miles of pipe to be replaced.

Finally, the Water Division wants to hire two new full-time employees and purchase two new vehicles — a service utility vehicle and a truck for the two new employees.

“For the past 12 years, we’ve had the same staff,” Campbell told Redmond City Council at the budget meeting. He said that workload has grown by about 40 percent in that time.

— Reporter: 541-617-7829,

awest@bendbulletin.com