The city of Leander has begun installing updated water meters, Tony Bettis, the city's capital improvement program manager, told Community Impact.
The project
The updated meters will connect to an online portal that will allow customers to track their water usage in real time.
In the new system, Neptune brand meters will send data about water use to the Neptune My360 portal, where customers can see it. Bettis said many customers in Leander already have Neptune water meters, so for these customers, crews will just be adding an antenna to connect the meter to the network. For customers with different existing meters, the city will replace them with Neptune meters.
Bettis said the city hopes the meters and portal will encourage conservation and help to identify leaks.
The timeline
Installation of the new water meters began Jan. 19. Bettis said the city aims to install 150 meters per week.
The city aims to make the Neptune My360 portal available to the public by April or May, and to have all updated water meters installed by the end of 2026, he said.
“Depending on how much growth we see between now and then, or other factors like the weather, it could get pushed back into January 2027,” Bettis said. “But the goal is the end of December.”
What you need to know
On its website, the city says VEPO Metering is contracted to install the meters. A meter technician will knock on a customer’s door to let them know when they are installing the meter.
Water will be shut off during installation. For residential meters, the city says this will be about 20-30 minutes. For larger meters, including businesses, it could take one to two hours.
After installation, the city says customers should flush their lines by running an outside spigot and cold water in a bathtub for 10 minutes before using the water.
