The Town of Mattapoisett has embarked on a program to upgrade all Town water meters with a state-of-the-art meter that collects water consumption information electronically. The Mattapoisett Water and Sewer Commissioners offered an Article on the FY 2011 Town Meeting warrant for approval to begin the meter upgrade program. The funds requested to begin the program were approved at Town Meeting, and a trial program began shortly thereafter. Late in 2011, competitive bids were requested of manufacturers of electronic water meters and in 2012, the meter purchase was awarded to Master Meter of Mansfield, Texas. The software used in conjunction with the electronic meters is provided by Greentree Applied Systems based in Lexington, Kentucky.
Water and Sewer Superintendent William “Nick” Nicholson said that 1,800 of the new meters have been installed to date – 60% of the total 3,000 meters installed throughout town. The program has been very successful for both the Town and for water consumers. With the older style water meter, it takes the water and sewer department staff nearly two months to read meters and to manually organize the data for water and sewer utility billings. This labor-intensive effort is the primary reason Mattapoisett water consumers are billed only twice each year for water and sewer services. With the new system, meter readings are collected and retained electronically. Mr. Nicholson expects that when fully implemented, two staff members will be able to read, electronically, all Town water meters in about five days. The collected readings are then electronically transferred to the Town water and sewer billing system. Sometime in the future, Mr. Nicholson hopes that the Town will be in a position to move to a quarterly – and perhaps monthly – billing cycle rather than the current semiannual billing schedule. Additionally, a high percentage of the Town’s water meters are approaching 20 years or more in age and are scheduled for replacement, so the upgrade to the new technology at this time is perfect, he said. There is no direct cost to the consumer for the new style meter; the cost of the new system is paid out of the rates and charges now paid by each Town water consumer.
From a water consumer’s perspective, the new meters have the ability to identify, through software algorithms, possible leaks within the home or business. Mr. Nicholson said that the department now reads the new style meters the first week of each month. If a leak is “detected” by the system, “we get on the phone immediately, followed up with a letter, to inform the property owner of the situation possibly saving the owner hundreds of dollars in charges for lost water while preserving our water resource.” Mr. Nicholson said that over the past couple of years, the system has “detected” anywhere from 25 to a high of 48 water leaks in any given month. “Early leak detection is key to water conservation, and it is important to minimize the effect of a water leak on the household budget,” said Mr. Nicholson. The new meter is of particular importance to the property owner who may not reside in their Mattapoisett residence on a full-time basis as the water department becomes another set of eyes on the dwelling when residents are away for extended periods of time.
Residents are notified by mail of the opportunity to upgrade to the new water metering system, an effort that requires less than 30 minutes of time in the home by a water and sewer department employee. There are numerous benefits to the new metering system, and Mr. Nicholson encourages residents to sign up for conversion upon receipt of the offer letter. “The new style water meter could save some Town residents hundreds of dollars,” said Mr. Nicholson – and for this reason alone the upgrade is well worth the investment of 30 minutes of time to affect the upgrade.