Small utilities rarely get a clean before and after. Dog Ridge Water Supply Corporation now has one.
The rural utility serving the Belton area of Bell County, Texas, has cut its water loss from about 40% a year ago to 17.9%, according to an October 14 report by the Temple Daily Telegram. In the same period it turned a projected $60,000 budget deficit into a net positive of nearly $145,000 for the fiscal year, a swing of more than $200,000.
The main driver was not a new treatment plant or a major pipe program. It was a nearly complete $1.2 million meter replacement project, combined with modernized operations and tighter administration.
That is a result any small system can study.
The Meters Found the Water
As of the October report, Dog Ridge had installed 1,977 new meters, with 46 left to replace, according to the Telegram. Board Vice President and General Manager Rudy Watkins said crews were expected to finish within days.
The new meters do three things the old ones could not.
They read more accurately, which brings previously unaccounted-for water back onto the books and into revenue. They let office staff monitor usage remotely and pull daily usage reports. And they flag possible leaks on the customer side of the meter, so problems surface in days instead of at the next bill.
Watkins had earlier credited the program with the improvement, noting that aging analog meters can fail to record low flows, the Telegram reported in September. Water that slips through unmeasured looks like loss on paper even when it reaches a customer’s tap.
This is the part of non-revenue water that is often the fastest to fix.
From Crisis Rates to Regional Benchmarks
The trend line is steep. The utility’s water loss stood at about 47% in February and 37% in July, the Telegram reported, before falling to 21% and then 17.9% in the most recent monthly figures reported to the board in October.
That puts Dog Ridge just above the Brazos River Authority average of 17% for water supply companies and below the Waco region average of 20%. Watkins has set a target of no more than 15%.
Few utilities move that far in a single year.
The speed matters because it shows how much of a high loss figure can be apparent loss rather than physical leakage. Before a utility spends heavily on finding leaks in the ground, it needs to know how much water it is simply failing to measure.
Better Data Changed the Balance Sheet
The financial turnaround follows directly from the operational one.
Board President Heidi Curtis said monthly bank balances have doubled, from a historical average of about $300,000 to more than $600,000. For fiscal 2027, the utility projects water sales of $3.1 million to $3.16 million and a net positive of about $180,600, assuming higher revenue from the new meters and 6% growth in meter connections.
Watkins said the utility will consider lowering its base meter rate if it meets its financial targets.
That is the outcome water loss programs promise and rarely show so plainly: recovered revenue that can flow back to customers.
The utility has also moved its records to digital form and freed operators from manual monthly reads, giving them more time for customer service and regulatory compliance. In September, Curtis described the utility as “no longer simply trying to keep the ship afloat.”
Pipes and Pumps Come Next
With metering largely solved, Dog Ridge is turning to physical infrastructure.
In September 2024, the Texas Water Development Board approved nearly $2 million in assistance for the utility, a $990,000 loan and a $1 million grant, to upgrade infrastructure in Sherwood Shores and bring it into compliance with Texas Commission on Environmental Quality standards. Part of the loan funded an asset management plan, which is now complete. Design of the Sherwood Shores work is expected to finish in December, with construction around mid 2027.
Proposed capital projects include an elevated water tower north of Interstate 14, new transmission lines, upgrades to the FM 2410 pump station and a portable generator for outages. The utility estimates near-term capital needs of about $12 million, plus $6 million to $10 million in longer-term work. It is exploring the state revolving fund program for 2027 and preparing a $5 million grant application due in January.
The sequence is the lesson. Measure first, then build.
What Other Small Systems Can Take From It
Dog Ridge is a small utility, but its playbook travels well:
- Replace aging meters that miss low flows
- Use remote reads to free field staff for higher value work
- Turn on customer-side leak alerts from day one
- Track water loss monthly against regional benchmarks
- Complete an asset management plan before major capital work
- Pair recovered revenue with state revolving fund applications
None of these require exotic technology. They require accurate data and the discipline to act on it.
Leaks hide in the ground. Lost revenue often hides in the meter box.
