According to a meter installed a little over a year ago by the Timpanogos Special Service District (TSSD) 47 million gallons of sewage went down the drain in Saratoga Springs in the last year. In a similar period previous to that new meter, Saratoga Springs only flushed about 18 million gallons.

Kyle explained that last spring an older meter was replaced -- one that the TSSD had suspected hadn't been keeping an accurate count. "They thought the old measure was low."

As for the bill, Saratoga Springs is holding back on just under $290,000 worth of utility payments. Kyle said that no citizens were overcharged, as the city stopped paying the bill until the discrepancy could be worked out.

Adams said the TSSD is governed by a board of directors who will ultimately make the decision. He has prepared his own report which will be reviewed in a meeting on Thursday, after which they can respond to Saratoga.

TSSD General Manager Jon Adams said he had been talking with Saratoga for many months about the situation, but he received a written proposal from Saratoga only a short while ago. "They wanted to pay about $510,000 based on metered water." The original bill was for about $960,000.

Kyle said this number was developed based on the amount of culinary water brought into the city. He said they felt it more fairly represented the amount of water that eventually went down the drain. Although there can be other sources -- referred to as infiltration -- the Saratoga system is fairly new and not likely to experience too much extra water. "With what people put on their lawns and such, it is probably pretty similar."

"Our position, it could be reading high or low," said Adams. "We need to put a new meter in there and get a number we are both comfortable with."

He said the problem lies in engineering issues. Adams said they had concerns last year about the meter that was put in. Because of the location, Saratoga Springs has to pump sewage out of the city and to the TSSD processing plant.

"The meter was reading sporadically," he said. "When the pump was on, it exceeded the meter's capacity. Then it would drop below when it stopped.

"The first few months it seemed okay, but then it started to creep up."

Now the meter has become disconnected from the pipe due to corrosion and needs to be replaced again.

The problem, according to Adams, is the distance Saratoga has to move their sewage.

"The town is growing so fast, they put in oversized lines to prepare for future capacity. At present, the waste doesn't move through fast enough."

When sewage sits, he explained, it starts to decompose and "out-gas" hydrogen sulfide. As it does so, the pH levels drop and the sewage becomes acidic and very corrosive. "The manifold has deteriorated until we can't reconnect the meter."

Presently, the Saratoga Springs and TSSD are working to address both the quality of the sewage as well as being able to meter it. "We need to get the sewage so it is not so septic," said Adams. "Maybe we will have to put in a new meter station closer."