What Toronto's $103M plan to replace broken water meter transmitters means for you
CBC
City officials have outlined a plan to replace failed water meter transmission units with the majority in Toronto not working and residents with faulty units being billed for estimated —as opposed to actual — water usage.
About 70 per cent of the 470,000 water meter transmitters have already failed and the remaining 30 per cent of the devices are expected to fail by September, according to Lou Di Gironimo, general manager of Toronto Water.
"We know the situation has caused frustration and uncertainty and I want to acknowledge that. Our goal today is to be completely transparent about what's happening and fully supportive of our customers needs as we work through this issue," Di Gironimo said.
Here's what you need to know about the plan.
Water meter transmitters are small devices that automatically send accurate water usage data to the city. But when their batteries die, the data flow stops.
Once projected to have a 20-year lifespan, the city has said the batteries are dying faster than expected.
The city has moved residents with failed units to "estimated billing," which means paying for estimated water use based on their past consumption.
"Some residents have already begun taking the extra step of manually submitting their readings to ensure that there are only billed for their actual water use and we appreciate their efforts," Di Gironimo said.
The city says it will take three years to replace the failed units at a cost of $103 million. The work is set to begin in April.
Toronto has hired Neptune Technology Group (Canada) to lead the work and expects up to 20,000 units per to be replaced per month. Aclara Technologies, the original supplier, will supply the new units.
The work of replacing the units will take place by geographical zone and continue until 2028. Zones will be prioritized based on the unit failure rate, the length of time customers have been on estimated billing and the number of customers affected.
There is no separate or additional charge to install a new unit.
Once the automated system comes back online, an accurate bill should come within four to six weeks, which could result in a credit toward the account or money owed to the city. Residents will then be moved off estimated billing.
John Longarini, the city's director of revenue services, said residents will never be charged for more water than was actually consumed.
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