Water meter transmission unit
The mayor’s latest newsletter explains why so many people are getting estimated water bills. The tl;dr is that the “meter transmission units” that were supposed to have a lifespan of 20 years have been dying after 8-10 years. The city is working with the manufacturer to rectify the situation at their expense. Unfortunately, the supply chain issues that have plagued us all during the pandemic are slowing down getting replacements. See below for more details:
Estimated Water Bills
A critical piece of infrastructure in our water system is our “meter transmission units.” These units transmit the data from the water meter to our billing system about the amount of water used in each of our homes and businesses. These units are located on an exterior wall of a property.
Just over 50% of these units have stopped working, requiring each of us to read the water meter in our basements and send them to City Hall or to use the estimated water meter readings.
During the 2010-2012 period, the City replaced all residential water meters and installed a meter reading transmission system that allows Newton’s Department of Public Works Utilities employees to remotely collect data for billing without entering homes. The system, with an estimated lifespan of 20 years, worked well until this past year when a significant number of the water meter transmission units (called “MTUs”) began to malfunction and not transmit readings. The MTU is a fixture located on the outside of homes and businesses that is connected to the meter inside and transmits data to the City’s billing software.
DPW staff is working with the meter transmission system manufacturer, Mueller Systems, to correct the problem at Mueller’s expense. Unfortunately, the pandemic has created supply chain problems that have backlogged shipment of replacement MTUs.
We continue to replace the MTUs as we receive them from Mueller. We have included the Law Department in an effort to take action to expedite delivery of the replacement MTUs.
Receiving an Estimated Read
In homes and businesses where the MTU has failed, the actual water meters have continued to accurately record water usage. With the MTU no longer transmitting the data on water usage, the City has needed to estimate water use for billing purposes and to request property owners to submit a photo of the meter’s serial number and reading. Affected property owners have been sent letters outlining the problem, explaining how estimated readings are calculated, and how actual readings can be emailed or called in. Click here for that information.
The City is estimating consumption based on computer generated averages of four “like periods” over the past four years. We encourage everyone to read their meter and send in the actual meter reading to our Water Billing Department. We do apologize for the inconvenience.
If you get an estimated bill, please know (no surprise) everyone will eventually have to pay their actual bill. (It’s easy to tell if it’s an estimate as the water bill will be orange and clearly marked as an estimate.)
I generally don’t mind the mayor’s dry tone but this last paragraph is something. Water/sewer prices in Newton are insanely expensive. It is entirely possible that people will be thousands of dollars in arrears when(if?) they fix their broken system. I’m not sure simply handing people a bill for the a difference is appropriate.
Furthermore, a 50% breakage rate for a system like this is nuts.
Highly recommend sending in a photo. Our bill went down considerably with it and the response was fast (and the updated amount was visible on the city’s bill pay page)
@Craig – Do you have any suggestions on what else the city can do? They are going after the manufacturer for the costs of repairs precisely because of the unacceptable breakage rate. They are trying to get new transmitters as quickly as possible, but have no control over supply chain problems. They’ve given instructions for how to get the actual reading and submit it and I can confirm that the bills with estimated readings have sections in bright orange informing people about them.
Unfortunately, I don’t see what else the city can do about this. If you have ideas, please share them.
Meredith, I suppose my answer would depend on far off the bills end up being. But at minimum an interest free payment plan where the bill gets added into future bills over time.
@Craig – that’s an excellent idea. I’d urge you to send that to your City Councilors as well as the mayor’s office.
We followed the instructions in the City’s letter and took a photo of our meter and emailed it in. Within days we had a true bill. I recommend others do the same.
We did this also
I had this problem as well and when the bill came it was thousands of dollars and more than our quarterly taxes. I contacted the Water Department and they said that I could request a prorated bill as water rates have changed and have seasonality. Within a week I received nearly a $1,000 reduction in the bill. If you receive a large bill, which is really not your fault, but is your responsibility, because the City’s equipment failed I suggest you ask them to check it. They do not tell you this on the bill. Also…I think the interest rate they charge is 6%, so the suggested of non-interest/penalty for large bills is a very good suggestion.
On another subject of energy use, if you were opted in or chose to opt in on the Mayor’s PowerChoice plan, I suggest you look careful at the rates. The PowerChoice rate is now >14 cents per Kwh and the old energy plan rate is 10 cents per Kwh. When the Mayor announced this plan she touted it as the inverse and within two years Eversource flipped the rates. Four cents does not seem like much, but over a year it is a $2,400 difference for our energy usage. Something to consider it you are looking at your finances, but on the other hand if you feel good about paying water bills that are larger than your quarter tax bill I am sure it is not an issue.
@Meridith gee, I wonder what they did before this latest piece of e waste was installed? Hired some actually humans to read the meter?
Save a nickel, costs a dollar.
I had a very bad experience pre these meter readers. We had an unnoticeable leak with a water heater for an unoccupied apt on our property. The City at the time made an error and didn’t bill customers for one billing cycle. They then overrode our reading twice thinking that due to the previous meters it must be wrong. They then sent us a bill for the correct amt in the 5 figure range with no explanation or heads up. It was a nightmare and all the city did for us was credit the sewer. It would have cost us a lot less if they had at least reached out to us saying they felt they were getting a bad reading. So I encourage all to check the reading on your meter if you get an estimated bill. The kicker was a yr later they sent us an estimated bill which was also 5 figures because it was based on the prior year’s bill. Of course that was easy to correct with the actual read but you would think water bills at 5 figures would at least be reviewed. Hopefully procedures have improved in that Dept.
For every person that has posted on here that the city over billed or incorrectly billed the proper amount, I can only imagine how many people are unaware of these mistakes. The city is probably making a profit when you factor in all of these inconsistencies. I wonder if there is a way the city could audit its billing properly so it is not taking advantage of its residents.
In last years budget, the city transferred a lot of the water / sewer charge burden onto residents and away from business due to uncertainty of commercial use. Think BU. As it turned out BU students came back, so I assume BU got a great discount of water / sewer last year.
I haven’t the energy to to investigate if that event last year got reversed this year. Given what is happening I hope somebody here might find the time to investigate.