Water meter inaccuracy costs Newmarket $500,000 per year, says report

YorkRegion.com
April 6, 2015
Chris Simon

Newmarket is losing $500,000 in revenue per year due to faulty water meters, according to a report released by the municipality.

As a result, council will consider approving a $6.7-million meter replacement program during draft 2015 capital budget deliberations. Under the plan, the town could replace more than 25,000 residential and commercial meters with Advance Metering Infrastructure technology — which allows consumption to be recorded electronically, rather than through direct visual inspection by meter readers.

The project would be funded by municipal reserves. Those reserves would then be replenished over the next 15 years, using money saved through improved meter accuracy. The town would also save money on meter readers, a service it currently outsources.

"The loan would be repaid through operational savings… (and) would align with the life cycle and future replacement of the meters," water and wastewater manager Bill Wilson said in the report.

About 12,170 town meters are likely under-registering usage by about nine per cent. The problem is blamed mostly on the age of the current devices. After about 10 years of operation, the meters begin to lose about .5 per cent of their accuracy annually.

"It will discontinue staff having to go door-to-door and getting the meter numbers," Councillor Jane Twinney said.

The meters would send customer consumption and time-of-use information to a central database for billing, troubleshooting and analysis. Residents will also have access to their usage data online.

"AMI data identifies and alerts staff and customers of unusual consumption patterns, which could identify potential leaks within a customer's home, meter tampering and backflow," Wilson said. "This will benefit both the user and the municipality, identifying problems quickly and minimizing water costs and usage. More accurate meter readings should increase (town) revenues."