By Tyler Marr

City to launch six-month remote water meter reading trial

Sep 22, 2017 | 2:00 PM

In an effort to ease the transition from quarterly to monthly water billing, the city will run a six-month remote meter reading pilot project.

The benefits of moving to a remote system will allow greater access to meter information for both the city and the customer, and improve monitoring. It will also allow the city to better monitor illegal tampering or modifications to the system, and employ remote cutoffs.

“We have asked our departments to be innovative and I think this is an example of being innovative, especially with the savings in the water utility,” Coun. Ted Zurakowski said. “I am looking forward to other innovations.”

Some meters replaced within the last couple of years will need additional modifications to connect to the Automated Meter Information (AMI) system. A few others will also need to be replaced to connect to the system. The replacement of the outdated meters will be included in the 2018 Utility Fund capital budget.

About half the city’s water meter population is past its useful life, with another quarter either getting close or at its useful life. By testing the AMI system with the newer meters, it will give the city a good taste of the benefits and kinks in this system without incurring significant capital costs by replacing 50 per cent or more of the city’s water meters.

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Coun. Evert Botha was in favour of the move, saying it will eventually allow residents greater access and monitoring of their water usage.

“With this technology, my understanding is that you as a resident can view your consumption. So if it is $3 a day, you can set a rule that if it goes over $5, I want to receive a notification,” he said, adding this will help residents avoid large water bills.

According to agenda documents, the pilot will additionally allow administration to identify areas of the city that have old meters. This information will better help the city collect on water bills.

The city’s new 200-foot wireless tower at the Municipal Service Centre is expected to cover a majority of the city for wireless reading.

The estimated cost of the pilot is approximately $30,000, with the funding to come out of the 2017 Utility Fund budget. Administration will provide a three-month update to council after the system is up and running.

tyler.marr@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @JournoMarr