Saline is considering whether and when to replace its water meters citywide. Although the public works director Larry Sirls did not take any action on the proposal made at the last city council meeting, the idea is definitely brewing, and a more formal proposal will be made at the next meeting.

“We are still in the discussion stage, but the Sirls and I suggested that we modernize the water meter system,” said City Manager Colleen O'Toole. "We are talking about collecting data in real time, [owning] instant communication tools with residents, and taking services to another level in terms of what information we and residents can get."

The aging water meter of salt water is analog and will age with the regular wear and tear of its parts movement, thereby increasing the inaccuracy. Just like any other form of infrastructure, they can be damaged. Sirls said the problem is that when there is a problem with the brine mains, it can take weeks or even months to find and resolve the problem.

The new system recommended by Sirls will be fully electronic and continue to monitor the system, allowing the city to deal with smaller and therefore lower cost problems, preventing potential accidents, injuries, and thousands of dollars in accidents for individual homes and businesses bill.

According to Sirls, it takes three days for four city employees to read every meter in a city every three months. After that, the data needs to be processed and checked through a series of steps, which cost about two and a half weeks and taxpayers US$36,000. Since the electricity meter provides usage data directly to the city, the city does not need to check anyone's electricity meter unless there is serious damage.

One thing that most people in the city council disagreed with was the requirement of a limited number of suppliers. Sirls is investigating other alternatives. Like almost everything else in the contemporary economy, the supply chain issues caused by the coronavirus pandemic are likely to delay the delivery of any systems that Saline ultimately purchases.

"I will have a complete introduction and make appropriate comparisons with other vendors on the next board of directors' agenda," Sirls said.