Downtown Water Meter Exchanges
November 5,2020
Reposted from the City of Fort Worth
Starting in mid-November, contract crews exchanging water meters for Fort Worth’s water utility will begin prepping meter boxes in downtown Fort Worth.
Meters exchanges downtown are expected to begin in January.
The work is part of the city’s MyH2O program to exchange approximately 260,000 water meters citywide with remote-read meters. The technology improves billing accuracy and reduces utility operating costs.
The program was approved by the City Council. A customer portal that will allow customers to see their water usage in hourly increments is expected to be ready in early 2021.
AquaMetric is handling the meter work. Workers wear bright yellow and orange safety vests with the AquaMetric logo on the back as well as company identification badges.
The prep work will include replacing concrete and metal meter box lids with heavy, durable plastic lids. The lid will have a small round cap that serves to cover the Smart Point, or the radio mounted below that transmits water usage data. The cap sits flush with the top of the lid.
Crews will start on 2-inch water meters and below, many of which are located in sidewalks near the street or closer to buildings.
Lids will not be exchanged on meter boxes located in garden or grassy areas, but they will be drilled and a cap put in place.
Crews work from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. When meter exchanges begin in January, it is likely crews will work weekends.
If a meter does not have a bypass, and water to the location needs to be turned off for the exchange to take place, building owners and managers will be contacted and a time arranged for that work to be completed. Meter exchanges can take up to 30 minutes to complete.
The downtown work area is between Lancaster Avenue on the south and East Belknap Street on the north, and from Henderson Street on the west and Elm, Grove and Jones streets on the east.
If you have any concerns related to the work, please do not hesitate to contact the water utility at 817-392-4477.