With the coming of water meters to our fair city and the deficit still being absorbed, with the potential for more to come, the technology being used in Florida, as reported by Harvard Innovation News, is something we should take a look at.
An excerpt.
“The village of Wellington is rolling out a citywide wireless network that will increase the efficiency of its city services. The initial service will automate the city's water meter reading. Currently an employee must drive by a water meter and it sends a signal to an electronic device inside the driver's car. But with the new wireless network the meters will be read from a centralized location on a daily basis versus a monthly basis as they are now.
“Village officials say the new system will save the village time, money and free up employees' time to perform other duties. By reading the meters on a daily basis the system will have the ability to flag suspected water leaks and officials can then contact homeowners.
"We're always trying to find ways to be progressive, do the best with people's taxes and make life easier for the people in the village," said Tom Amburgey, the village's chief information officer. He said other municipalities in the area may have some Wi-Fi capabilities but "we're really the first to go this far in this area."
“Every 10 years the water meters must be changed out anyway and it was during the water meter review process that they found out about this new system. The total cost of the project is $4.3 million.”
