Using less water not only ensures an adequate supply for the future, but can also save consumers money on their water bill. In this Q&A, Randi Jenkins, Assistant Director of Austin Water, discusses the My ATX Water program and how a new Smart Water Meter System and customer portal will change our ability to conserve water and manage bills.

What is the My ATX Water Smart Water Meter System?

Jenkins: Austin has a plan known as Water Forward that is designed to make sure we have water for the next 100 years despite a rapidly growing population and impacts from climate change. A key strategy in that plan is replacement of our analog meter system with new digital meters that provide hourly water use information to a portal that customers can access. It’s a tool to better manage water use and it give customers insights and control of the ways they can conserve. Austin Water is exchanging over 250,000 homes and businesses across Austin to our new digital meters – we just hit our halfway point – and the project will be complete by 2025.

Along with the meter upgrades, Austin Water has also rolled out a new portal for customers to use. Can you talk about that?

Jenkins: The My ATX Water portal is a place where people can track their water use, set up customized alerts and notifications, and identify ways to save on their bills. For example, customers may want to set alerts for their watering day, or a specific threshold for water use and billable threshold they want to stay below. Then as they approach that use threshold, they would get a notification so they could cut back and keep their bill at a manageable amount. Customers can look at usage for the month or get really granular to review how much they’re using day by day, hour by hour. It’s near real-time usage information – and it puts management of water use in the hands of our customers.

What other features does the portal offer?

Jenkins: One of the most helpful features is called Continuous Usage Alerts. These go out to notify customers about a possible leak which may not be obvious – like an irrigation system leak underground or a toilet leak. We’ve had a lot of customers tell us how helpful and timely this feature is for discovering and dealing with leaks before they result in an expensive water bill.

How do customers get on the portal?

Jenkins: Customers can sign up by going to myatxwater.org. If you don’t have one of the new digital meters yet, you can still see your monthly water use data just like on your bill. Eventually, all the information and capabilities will be there when your new meter arrives.

What else is happening around the Smart Water Meter project?

Jenkins: We are planning a community celebration to celebrate reaching the halfway point of this important project. It’s going to be held on May 6th at Dove Springs Park and will be a fun, family-friendly event. There will be entertainment, food and Dowser Dan. And of course, we will be signing people up for the portal and showing them all the cool things it can do.

Even though long range forecasts are predicting a wetter spring and summer, is Austin still in a drought?

Jenkins: Yes, the source of Austin’s drinking water, the Highland Lakes, are only 51% full right now. Austin is currently under Stage 1 watering restrictions, which reduces lawn watering times. You can find out what your watering day is at austinwater.org.

Interested in signing up for the new portal to monitor your water usage and learning more about how to conserve water? Go to myatxwater.org today!

The above story was produced by Community Impact's Storytelling Multi-Platform Journalist Victoria Schaefer with information solely provided by the local business as part of their "sponsored content" purchase through our advertising team. Our integrity promise to our readers is to clearly identify all CI Storytelling posts so they are separate from the content decided upon, researched and written by our journalism department.