Benefits for customers include the ability to set-up leak alerts
This summer TMWA completed the system wide installation of new water meters, which will greatly enhance customers’ ability to track and understand their water use. Over 123,000 meters in homes and businesses were installed, taking almost six years to complete. The Advanced Meter Infrastructure (AMI) project will benefit both customers and the community by preventing damaging leaks, promoting conservation and enhancing system reliability.
Before this significant upgrade, traditional meters only provided a monthly reading, making leaks difficult to detect until an unusually high-water bill was received. Now with AMI meters (also known as smart meters), customers can track near real-time water usage throughout the day and by the hour. By viewing this information, customers can see when and how much water they are using. They can also use it to determine the threshold for establishing an automated leak alert. (See below for instructions on setting up leak alerts).
Smart meters also eliminate manual in-person meter reading, which reduces the need for TMWA employees to access private property. The operational savings to TMWA are significant, reducing the costs for reading meters from approximately $50,000 to $15,000 per month. This adds up to an estimated $420,000 per year!
“We’re happy to finish this project, which offers our customers more information to manage their water use,” said Marci Westake, TMWA’s customer services manager. “It also results in significant operational savings, which helps keep rates lower”.
How to Establish a Leak Alert
First, access your water use history:
- Log-in to your account at myaccount.tmwa.com
- Select “Smart Meter” from the left menu
- Review “Daily Usage Chart”, and click on the day of highest water use
- Look at “Hourly Usage Chart” for that day
- Take note of your minimum and maximum hourly water use Then, define your LEAK ALERT threshold:d
- Select “Profile” on the menu bar
- Click “Leak Alert”
- Input your “Minimum Usage” (lower numbers will catch smaller leaks) We recommend 5 gallons per hour. This is low enough to pick up small leaks, like a bad toilet flapper, without being so low it triggers an alert for incidental use like running a large drip system in your yard
- The “Continuous Usage” setting specifies the number of hours the flow must be detected before an alert is triggered. Continuous use without any breaks in water flow is a sure sign you may have a leak. We recommend 24 hrs. This picks up smaller leaks without triggering an alert for incidental use
- Save changes
When minimum water use continues past your continuous usage threshold, you will receive a notification email from TMWA. If TMWA has your mobile phone number, you may also receive a text or phone call. This is a good reason to click the “Profile” tab and make sure your information is up to date and includes your mobile number. A how-to video on setting up leak alerts is located here: tmwa.com/ami-how-to