New Jersey’s TWW launches smart water meters programme
Skyline of New Jersey, US. Image courtesy 123rf
New Jersey water utility company Trenton Water Works (TWW) has launched a $20 million project to replace 63,034 water meters in its five-municipality system with smart water meters.
TWW meter readers will be able to read the new two-way communicating water meters remotely, eliminating almost all estimated water bills.
TWW Meter Shop personnel and contract vendor National Metering Services will begin upgrading the utility’s customers’ water meters by appointment beginning in January 2024 in Trenton, Ewing Township and Hopewell Township.
Installations take about 30 minutes and require access to existing meters in customers’ properties. TWW estimates it will replace approximately 21,000 meters in the project’s first phase.
“We continue to pursue capital projects that not only improve water quality, but also strengthen TWW’s billing and customer-service delivery, priorities that we set during the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Sean Semple, director of the city’s department of water and sewer, which operates Trenton Water Works.
“Smart meters allow for automatic meter reading that eliminates nearly all estimated bills, stronger customer service and more efficient meter-reading operations.”
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The New Jersey Water Bank, a programme jointly administered by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and the New Jersey Infrastructure Bank, is funding the project. This work is part of TWW’s $405-million, six-year capital plan announced in 2019.
Trenton customers interested in upgrading to a two-way communicating water meter (Smart Meter) will receive a letter in December from TWW asking them to call the water utility’s Meter Shop to make an appointment.
Ewing Township and Hopewell Township customers will receive a letter from National Metering Services inviting them to make an appointment. There is no charge for the meter replacement.
“We are organising H2Open community forums in the months ahead to educate our customers about the Smart Meter Project and other TWW priorities to produce quality drinking water. We hope our valued customers and service-area consumers will attend and share their questions about our operations, capital work, and water quality,” Semple added.
TWW was purchased by the City of Trenton in 1859. In the last 50 years, TWW infrastructure has undergone numerous capital improvements, creating a system that consists of a water-filtration plant, an open reservoir, three pump stations, more than 8,000 valves, 3,578 fire hydrants and six interconnections between TWW and other water suppliers.
