What to know about Cedar Rapids’ work to replace 55,000 water meters

CEDAR RAPIDS — Soon to be gone are the days of Cedar Rapids’ utilities workers traipsing through your backyard to read your water meter.

The city of Cedar Rapids is working on a five-year plan to upgrade 55,000 water meters throughout the city. The meter and meter-reading equipment replacement will make the technology more efficient and allow most to be read digitally, allowing staff to more quickly access the data.

Water meters are how customers’ water and wastewater bills are determined, whether it’s a commercial, industrial or residential meter. That information feeds directly into the invoices.

So far, about 17,000 water meters and meter interface units have been installed since work started about two years ago — nearly two-thirds by Ferguson Waterworks, which the city contracted with to contact residents, set up appointments and complete some of the work. The rest have been installed by city staff.

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The Utilities Department long has used water meters from Neptune Technology Group, a North American provider of utility automation systems. Ferguson is the exclusive dealer for Neptune meters in this area.

The American Water Works Association recommends equipment be replaced after 14 years. The city is working to replace meters that are 15 years or older — those that are no longer supported by Neptune.

To replace the equipment, staff screw mechanical pieces to replace the meter.

If the technician spots a bad valve or other plumbing issue, the homeowner will be advised to contact a plumber. Then, after any repairs are done, the customer would need to reschedule the appointment.

Work to replace the meter is done inside the home, and appointments can be scheduled on weekends and off-hours.

Meter interface units essentially are a box that sits outside your house that is connected to the meter inside. These units act as a radio control system that sends signals to collectors scattered throughout the city, Utilities Director Roy Hesemann said. That information comes back through the city’s fiber system to provide routine reads of the meters.

Normally, a meter reader would walk a dedicated route to collect readings every two months. A reader would walk with a meter-reading gun, touch a black button on the top of the equipment outside your home, store the information and download it at the end of the day.

“It makes it a whole lot safer for the meter readers that are out there doing their job,” Hesemann said. “They're not out in the extreme weather. They're not out with dogs. They’re not falling into holes. They’re not trotting through people's yards. When people see footprints in their yards, they wonder who's scoping out the house to break in.”

With the new equipment, city staff will be able to read about 95 percent of the meters digitally through data that is submitted to a tower, leaving few that will have to be read from staff driving by the home or meter location. That’ll allow the city to put utilities staff to use on other tasks, Hesemann said.

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The city also will be better able to monitor potential issues with a water system, such as someone’s toilet getting stuck and not shutting off, and act quicker to remedy the problem, Hesemann said.

The process of replacing meters also allows staff to learn about the material for the service line — the connection between water distribution pipes in the street and the water meter in a property. Cities are required by the Environmental Protection Agency to inventory all service line materials by 2024.

“It just makes them a lot safer and a lot more reliable and a lot easier to monitor really what's going on” with a water system, Hesemann said.

Comments: (319) 398-8494; marissa.payne@thegazette.com