By Art Tanney
Special to the NEWS
On Tuesday morning the city of Rio Hondo introduced new water meters to the public. City Manager Ben Medina explained how the meters work and the reasons behind the massive upgrade.
The new, digital meters will be connected to the city system via wifi. The antennas installed with the meters will send a signal to the water plant which then will send a signal to the city office, saving the city money as people will no longer be needed to read the meters. The new meters will provide more accurate and more accessible water records as each record is stored electronically. Residents will be able to contact the office if they have questions about their bills and the office will be able to contact the residents if they notice any unusual activity that might indicate a water leak. “Every morning when our clerk goes into the office and turns on the system,” Mr. Medina explains, “she will have a printout with red flags on certain accounts that are alerting her that [the usage] is above average…so we call you and we let you know…you may have a leak.” The current system does not allow for that ease of access. A resident with a higher than average water bill would have to call someone to inspect their meter and water lines, whereas with the new system, all unusual water usage will be red-flagged and investigated to avoid potentially higher water bills. Mr. Medina concludes, “With this meter, you, at any moment’s notice, can go to our office and get a report of your usage by day and that report will even break it down by hour.”
Around 750 of the meters manufactured by Mueller Systems will be replacing the old meters over the next two to three weeks. The entire project, including the meters, their installation, and training cost the city $375,000.
The next coffee and meeting with the City Manager will be held on Tuesday, March 13th at 9am at 200 Colorado Avenue in Rio Hondo.
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