The City of Zachary Announces Installation of Wireless Meter Upgrades for All Water & Gas Customers

Posted by zachary on February 09, 2023

The City has contracted with Sensus, Equipment Controls Company (ECCO) and Compass Metering Solutions to change out existing water and gas meters with an advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) system. Installation of the new efficient meters will begin Monday, February 27, and is expected to take approximately 12-18 months to complete.

Advanced metering works via wireless technology to send readings to regional collectors that transmit the usage data to our billing department and utility maintenance supervisors. "This innovative new system replaces monthly drive-by reads with multiple remote reads per day, allowing for better leak detection, increased billing accuracy, and improved customer service. Getting meter consumption information on-demand, gives our team, a customer service tool, we haven't been able to utilize until now. Our pilot program has over 300 meters transmitting data and has proven to be very successful," says City of Zachary Meter Director Chip Troth.

Customers should know, that there will not be gas service interruption during the anticipated 15-minute retrofit installation of smart point gas meters. Water meter and water smart point installations will require, on average, for residential customers, 30 minutes and no more than 15 minutes of water disruption. After the water meter installation, crews will run a 10-gallon test from an exterior hose or faucet. When completed, door hangers will be left at the door, making residents aware of the visit. You may get two different hangers if you have water and gas service with the City of Zachary, as these will be separate install crews with the same company (Compass).

For meter upgrade FAQ, please click here.