Moberly water line maintenance expenses rise due to material costs, preventative care
Alison Patton
MOBERLY, Mo. (KMIZ)
The Moberly water line maintenance fund has more than tripled in cost since 2020. This is according to data the ABC 17 team received from the city.
City Community Relations Manager Scott McGarvey wrote in a statement this is because material costs have gone up since the COVID-19 pandemic, and because of proactive efforts to prevent repeat breaks in water lines.
“This approach means higher short-term costs, but it reduces repeat failures, strengthens the system, and improves reliability for our customers,” McGarvey wrote in a statement.
Instead of fixing the cracks or damage to the water line, the city assesses nearby lines to see what can be updated to PVC piping, McGarvey said.
“If we have a leaky valve, perhaps we might in the past have just replaced a valve and moved on,” McGarvy said. “Now we take a look at what does that water main looks like, the structure of it, and we may replace a block of water main, which will take old cast iron out of the system, replace it with modern PVC.”
McGarvy said it’s an expensive process, especially when there are a lot of water line breaks.
Last year, Moberly had about 80 water line breaks, according to McGarvey.
The new assessment took effect in fiscal year 2024, McGarvey said. The numbers in the water line maintenance fund reflect that.
In 2023, the total maintenance for the water line was a little under $132,000. The next year, it jumped to about $196,500. Finally, the 2025 fiscal year, which ended in June, was just over $310,000.
Moberly residents started paying an extra $3 on their water bills in July to help pay for the repairs and updates, according to McGarvey.
The city eventually wants to replace all the cast iron pipes, but McGarvey said he doesn’t know when that will be, considering there are 55 miles of pipe throughout the city.