I'm thinking that between a different brand of brake pads and some wearing smooth of the rim surface, that the brake pads should be able to last a fairly long time.
I ride a couple of bikes with 27" Araya and Ukai steel rims here in the hills that are perfectly smooth/pleasant in everyday use, provide generous width, and one set even has fine texture divots on the braking surfaces. Many (most) pads are very much not made for use on steel rims, as the pads are prone to surface melting and rapid loss of thickness, usually accompanied by noisy and/or abrupt operation.
The rims on one of my Varsities are much heavier and have less-smooth of a braking track, but again they do not eat brake pads.
Look for pads with "for steel rims only" or similar printed on their packaging.