New auto read meters hoped to detect leaks early.
LIVE OAK — New smart water meters are flowing into the City of Live Oak.
The city has currently replaced approximately 27% of the residential water meters to new electronic meters that won’t have to be manually read.
During Tuesday’s Live Oak City Council meeting, City Manager George Curtis told the council that there was an average of about 80 meters replaced daily according to a Feb. 9 letter from Public Works Director Mike Crandall. The switch over of the meters, there’s approximately 2,600 needing replaced in total, is expected to be complete by mid-March.
The electronic meters are automatically read meters and will provide additional usage data to the city and consumers.
The meter replacement, which also includes residential natural gas meters, is being funded through American Rescue Plan Act funds.
Councilman Matt Campbell, who requested the update on the project, said he will continue to request information until the meters are replaced as he continues to hear residents having issues with exorbitant utility bills, a problem he once encountered himself.
“Your water bill is trucking along at $120 per month or whatever it is and then all of a sudden you get a $500 something utility bill and you feel like your plumbing is good, everything is good,” Campbell said. “I’m hoping the installation of the electronic water meters will alleviate a lot of that happening.”
Joanne Luther, the city’s finance director, said the meters could allow for early detection of issues like a leak.
“The meters come with another software where you can drive by and gather data as we have staff and are able to pinpoint leaks, that’s what the hope is, to have people be aware of an issue maybe quicker,” she said, although she added there still could be issues on the consumers’ end, including older pipes or leaks.
While the water meters are expected to be replaced within the next month, Curtis said there is no timeline for the switch on gas meters. There are 707 gas meters that need to be retrofitted for automatic reading.
“The focus is on the residential (water) meters,” Curtis said.