In a good faith gesture, the City of Waterloo announced Monday night that some homeowners will be reimbursed for repairs made following certain types of water leaks that occurred throughout 2025.

This issue reached a boiling point during an August utility meeting, during which a few residents expressed anger and frustration with water leaks at their places of residence. These residents took aim at the city’s new water plant that went online in late December 2024 as the cause.

Mayor Stan Darter defended the quality of water  from the city’s new plant at that meeting and continued to do so Monday night, stressing that city officials consulted with several water experts on the matter and received confirmation that the water was not to blame for the leaks.

As discussed at that August meeting, Darter and Waterloo Public Works Director JR Landeck said a common theme for these leaks appeared to involve newer “K1” or “Type K” flare copper fittings.

“It’s not as high quality copper as it used to be,” Landeck said then.

On Monday, Darter read a statement that said in November, the decision was made to discontinue the city policy of using flare copper fittings on residential water lines, which had been used for the past several years at the curbstop to a home’s water line and the exterior residential water meter yield connections.

Also in November, Darter said the city instructed all of its public works and underground utilities employees to “make all necessary repairs at city expense” regarding water line failures detected using these particular fittings.

On Monday night, Darter told committee meeting attendees that the city will reimburse all property owners for repairs made during 2025 as a result of these flare copper fittings. This also includes excess sewer charges on some residents’ utility bills resulting from issues with these fittings.

Darter said the city will contact all known residents who encountered water leaks by letter, notifying them they have 90 days to complete a reimbursement form and provide a receipt for completed work to be eligible for funds. 

“I came to this decision after exhausting all other possibilities that these leaks were being caused by the city’s new source or a minor change in pressure,” Darter said. 

Darter estimated there were 100 total water leaks in the city during 2025, with approximately 65 of them falling under the flare copper fittings category.

The remaining leaks either didn’t qualify under this classification or have already been taken care of by the city, the mayor said.

He said the issue of water leaks impacted just 2 percent of the city’s 5,000 or so residential meters.

“We don’t have exact statistics from previous years, but this is most likely not completely out of line with the leaks in general in the past,” Darter said. 

The city will also update its municipal code to reflect that going forward, flare copper fittings will not be used, instead opting for HDPE fittings. 

Waterloo Water and Sewer Committee Chairman Kyle Buettner said at the meeting that many municipalities have phased out flare copper fitting options in recent years in favor of compression fittings and cross-linked polyethylene systems.

“There’s better options, and now we’re moving to them,” Buettner said.

Factoring in the excess sewer fee reimbursements, the estimated cost for the city to pay back impacted residents who repaired these types of water leaks is about $180,000, Darter said.

Residents who feel they may qualify for a water leak repair reimbursement from the city may call City Hall at 618-939-8600 if they do not receive a letter from the city. 

Other city news

During the regular meeting on Monday night, the Waterloo City Council approved  low bidder Huebner Concrete Contracting to conduct work as part of the city’s Fourth Street Improvement Project for the amount of $1,223,816.72.