MINNEOTA — A crew from the Minnesota Rural Water Association is hunting for a “fairly large” water leak in Minneota.

“I would be honest with you, it’s like looking for a needle in a haystack,” City Administrator Shirley Teigland told council members Travis Gillund and Jerry Teigland and Mayor John Rolbiecki during Monday’s meeting.

Teigland said she suspected a water leak while going over the city’s water usage paperwork for the past quarter.

“I started asking questions. It didn’t look right,” she said. “We are being billed more than we are billing (residential and commercial customers). So the leak has to before the meters somewhere. It could be anywhere in town.”

Gillund asked Teigland if she had any idea how much was being lost by the city.

“It’s probably going to amount to an extra $4,000 a quarter cost,” she said.

Gillund also asked what is being done about finding the leak. Teigland said a crew from the MRWA was expected Tuesday to insert a probe into the city’s water system. When contacted Tuesday afternoon, Teigland told the Independent she had no results from the MRWA yet.

“I’m not going to say it’s impossible to find, but it’s not going to be easy. It’s a pretty big process,” Teigland also said Monday night. “Since it’s not showing up anywhere above ground, our only suspect is that it found its path somewhere (underground).”