The City of Riverside is fed up with the high amount of water loss caused by undiagnosed water leakage, so they’ve decided to install a citywide fixed based water meter system to combat the problem. According to City Clerk Becky LaRoche, the city has been discussing the system for the last year and a half, comparing programs and pricing. At their most recent meeting, the Riverside City Council approved an agreement with Ferguson Waterworks to install the new system. LaRoche describes the fixed based water meter system, “(It) entails replacing all of our water meters in the community. And they will bounce off a cellular satellite tower, and we will be able to draw up their usage by the hour. We can look at the usage, we can detect leaks, overflow problems, (and) no flow problems. The computer system ties right into our billing system, so there’s no changing in our billing.”

The money for the system will come out of the city’s water reserve funds, which are used specifically for replacing and updating the water system. Work on the project is scheduled to begin the first couple weeks of February, and LaRoche estimates it should take 30-60 days to complete the installation. She says the biggest hurdle will likely be finding times that will work for homeowners to enter the houses and do the water meter replacement. LaRoche says the city hopes the new system will lower people’s water bills and reduce the amount of water loss the city experiences.