Shelton replacing meters with updated technology

City of Shelton residents can prepare to say goodbye to monthly visits from water meter readers.

The city is in the process of exchanging aging Sensus brass water meters, which are read manually monthly by city employees, for new Sensus Imperl meters with radio antennas that transmit water use information to city staff as they drive by.

The city last summer approved the purchase of the new water meters and transmitters, and the purchase of new meter boxes and lids this fall.

The Shelton City Council on Dec. 7 approved spending $451,815 on 2,147 water meter boxes and 2,650 lids. Ferguson Waterworks was awarded the contract after offering the lower of two bids.

Jay Harris, the city’s public works director, said the project will cost an estimated $2.5 million, with $800,000 coming from the American Rescue Plan Act, and $1.7 million coming from the city rate funds.

Due to shipping delays, the lids and boxes probably will arrive in June and be installed this summer, Harris told the city council on Dec. 7. The city will hire a contractor to install most of them, he said.

In a report to the city council in September 2020, the public works department stated that the city’s water department has 3,867 Sensus brass water meters. The average age of the water meters is more than 12 years old.

The water meters are all opened and read once a month manually by water division staff. The meter readings are fed into a data collector that is more than 15 years old, and then uploaded into an aging Windows PC that runs on Windows Vista, and then downloaded by the finance department for billing purposes, the report states.

The meter reading process takes about three weeks each month for one to two staff members. The employees must know the location of 3,864 meters, with some in high-traffic areas or in fenced yards.

The meters are also inaccurate, and read lower as they age, resulting in lost water and sewer revenue, the city reports.

In contrast, the upgraded system will allow residents and the city with around-the-clock access to their water usage information, which is updated hourly. Customers can use their consumption history to manage their use to reduce water and sewer bills.

The city reports that the software will detect water leaks on the homeowner’s side of the meter so they can be repaired quickly. Homeowners can be alerted to continuous water flows and prevent property damage.