(1/13) Woodsboro town officials are looking into two options for replacing water meters in town, which in some cases are failing to record the amount of water residents are using.

The current water meter system is old, and unaccounted water usage is costing the town money in water bills since it cannot bill residents appropriately.

Town Secretary Mary Rice did not know how much exactly the town has been spending for unaccounted water.

Badger Meter Company provided the town with an estimate of $44,000 to replace 90 meters, Burgess Donald Trimmer said at a town meeting Tuesday.

Another option is a computerized meter system similar to what Frederick County uses that will allow town staff to do ‘‘drive-by" meter reading. The system would allow a staff member to drive by homes with a computer in his truck to pick up a signal from homes. The system will also indicate if someone has tampered with a meter.

Town officials are hopeful the new meter system will cost about $40,000, Rice said.

Town considers acquiring well-monitoring system

With all the growth the town is undergoing, town officials stressed the importance of obtaining a computerized system to monitor wells in town, known as supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system.

The SCADA system would be used to automatically turn wells on and off, and to monitor well depth, Rice said.

‘‘This will enable us to watch our water capacity a lot better," Rice said.

The town has not yet received a cost estimate for the system, and is still in the preliminary stages of implementing the project