Austin Water begins piloting smart water meters

Austin Water has finally announced the long-awaited rollout of its smart meter technology. After initially testing the technology in the River Place neighborhood of Northwest Austin, the water utility will expand its locations for this new pilot program to include 1,920 meters in the River Place/Glenlake and Long Canyon neighborhoods and 2,840 meters in the Windsor Park and Mueller neighborhoods. Over the next five years, the project will replace more than 230,000 analog water meters with electronically read water meters connected to a wireless network. Along with more intelligent meters, Austin Water will establish a customer portal where users can sign up for customized notifications that include daily water use data. “This project will provide our customers and the utility much more data about water use, allow easier communication with customers through the new customer portal and will improve billing accuracy,” Austin Water Director Greg Meszaros said in a press release. The pilot program will continue for one year, after which the utility will spend the next four years installing meters throughout the Austin Water service area to eliminate analog systems.