BELLAIRE — Loss of water and revenue continued to dominate talks at Thursday’s Village Council meeting in Bellaire, but new meters expected to come by the end of the summer should be among the next steps taken to remedy the issue.

Bellaire’s water department is approximately $55,000 in the red, with the department seeing an estimated 70 percent water loss, being flushed away unbilled and uncounted. The reasons for such a high percentage of lost water are varied, ranging from numerous water breaks in the village’s aging infrastructure, to water used to fight fires, and, notably, water which may be going to unmetered locations.

Many of the village’s meters, including some on high-volume structures, are mechanical and may be improperly calibrated, as impurities in the water slow the mechanisms, throwing their measurements off.

Village Administrator Mike Wallace said the myriad problems the village faced were due in part to the aging infrastructure.

“The cause of financial loss from water loss is a multitude of issues, some small, some large,” he said. “It’s an inaccuracy of metering devices, there are people who don’t have meters. Maybe a house was torn down, some that just aren’t on the books. … We’ve got water meters not reading correct, and we’ve had new ones put in that weren’t correct.”

Wallace said they had ordered 10 new meters with electronic, pulse output to try to get more accurate readings over longer periods of time. The new meters are expected to come within 30 days, and once installed and connected to a telemetry system, could provide readings remotely and provide alerts to potential breaks or tampering on the spot.

“We’re also looking at efficiency in the manner we do billing, the manner we read meters,” he said.

“You could call up a meter and say, ‘how many gallons have they used this year?’ It can tell us if you have a leak.

“It’s just so many things, and we’re so far back. We’ve got a three-man crew to do water repairs for the whole village,” he said of Bellaire, which has an estimated population of around 4,000 people, as of 2018.

Wallace added that for tracking down potential waste at unmetered locations, the village would be examining property near some of the current high-volume structures, such as high-rise apartments or other large, high-use buildings.

Further infrastructure repairs would be completed “as money allows,” Wallace said.

Resident Raymond Penyak addressed council regarding the water situation, and was told of many issues which contribute to the water loss by council member Mike Doyle. He

“Over the last seven years, seen some new faces, some old faces, but one thing’s been constant is that the water department is in the red,” Penyak said. “Can anyone say why the water department is in the red? Cost of chemicals? Repairs? Wages? Utilities? … You say water loss, but when (former village administrator) Scott Porter was here, water loss was down to 13 percent at one point, and the department was still going in the red.”

Doyle provided several reasons for the high rate of water loss, such as water breaks, firefighting efforts and metered, but unbilled, usage.

“We found out at the end of the season last year that a fountain didn’t work. They estimated 50,000 gallons was lost there,” Doyle said. “There’s people smarter than you or I asking these questions since I’ve gotten elected. … We’re trying to upgrade the meters to get an accurate reading. Everyone needs to know that if your meter now isn’t working correctly and is showing 2,000 gallons, but it’s actually 4,000, there’s water loss there, and loss of revenue…

“People don’t know what council does, because all they want to do is …. Moan and gripe. We’re working on the problem,” he said.

The next water committee meeting will be Tuesday morning at 9 a.m.