Meter automation project helps identify water leaks

Cases are dribbling in that show that one customer-centric element of the Altoona Water Authority's $6.6 million meter automation and replacement project is working.

As a corollary to its automation of readings, the authority is notified when a residential customer's usage never drops below a gallon per hour for 48 consecutive hours, according to authority billing director Ron Becher.

That indicates a leak, and when it happens, the authority notifies the customer, who can then check and have the leak repaired.

It takes three days between the time a leak begins and the notifications go out, he said.

Before meter automation, it took 45 days, as the authority only read meters once in 30 days, then had to work through the billing process before high-usage for one customer would come to the attention of officials, who could then notify the customer, Becher said.

The improvement is "quite huge," Becher told the board last week.

One case - a vacant building in a shopping center - indicates the potential value.

The authority received an alert, notified the shopping center office, and the center repaired a pipe that had frozen and burst.

Enough water had leaked to generate a bill of $1,200.

Had the same thing happened before automation, the loss would have required an additional zero - $12,000, Becher said.

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Meter automation project helps identify water leaks