Why is my water bill arriving later than usual?
With existing water meters reaching the end of their battery life and no longer able to remotely transmit usage data, Water Resources Department crews are having to manually read them. It takes more time to manually read a meter – which requires staff to physically inspect it – than it does to read remotely. With meter reading slower than it has been in the past, processing and sending bills is taking longer than usual.
What is Water Resources doing to solve this issue?
Water Resources has hired temporary staff to supplement existing personnel, and is in the process of engaging an outside contractor, in an effort to manually read meters as quickly as possible. The Department is dedicating every available resource to this effort.
When will billing cycles return to normal?
What will help the most is the continued progression of the Advanced Metering Infrastructure project, which will see new meters installed in each of the system’s approximately 63,000 water connections. That project is scheduled for substantial completion in 2025, but getting new meters installed and functional will gradually clear the billing backlog. The private contractor performing the work is averaging approximately 900 new meters installed per week.
What do I pay?
Water Resources apologizes for the inconvenience the interruption of normal billing rhythm is causing our customers. While bills and e-bills are still being sent to customers daily, some may arrive later, and may encompass billing cycles longer or shorter than the usual two months. As in the past, the amount due will represent water consumption between listed usage dates.
Customers will still have 20 days from the billing date to remit payment. As always, payment plans will be available to customers who need them if the bill for the adjusted time period is significantly greater than what customers have budgeted for payment.
Who do I contact for more information?
Contact the Water Resources Department Customer Service Center by calling (828) 251-1122.