Denton residents will be able to track their water usage more accurately after Denton City Council approved $26 million to install advanced metering infrastructure, a city-wide automated water metering system, at an April 21 council meeting.
The new meters will hone in on earlier leak detection and save the city money on labor for manual meter reading, said Kyle Pedigo, the city's water utility planning manager.
In a nutshell
The new system will replace the roughly 46,000 commercial and residential water meters in Denton, and savings from manual meter readings, plus vehicle expenses, will fully recoup the cost in 11-13 years, city documents state.
The city is expected to save the city $18 million over implementation, according to city documents.
Contractors will replace about 2,000 meters a month over the next two years, Pedigo said. The installation will interrupt water services for less than one hour, and citizens will be notified four weeks in advance, he added.
The new system will include a customer portal and allow Denton residents to see their water usage in near-real time, Pedigo said.
“We’ll be able to more accurately track water usage so that we don’t have any overages if a meter isn’t reading correctly,” Pedigo said. “Customers will be able to access the customer portal which will give almost live updates of their water use ... as well as potentially identify leaks on the customer side of the meter. If no water is flowing but the meter is running, it could identify a subsurface leak or running toilet.”
Some background
Currently, the city spends about $1.05 per meter per month to track water usage across the city’s 46,000 water meters, city documents state. A 2021 feasibility study found that the automated metering system could reduce human error and reduce vehicle and labor expenses.
Denton Municipal Electric officials implemented advanced metering infrastructure for its electrical utilities in 2010, according to city documents.
Looking ahead
Installation is scheduled to take about two years and complete in spring 2028. Customers will have the option to opt out and request to reschedule their meter change to avoid the water service interruption.
