Water bills likely to rise as EnWin installs more accurate meters

If you're still waiting to get a new water meter, be forewarned: there's a good chance your bill will go up after it's installed.

EnWin is about three-quarters of the way through a five-year campaign to replace all 74,000 meters in Windsor.

They record less than what's actually being used, so it'd be working in the favour of the customer, yes.- John Wladarski, EnWin Chief Operating Officer

Chief operating officer John Wladarski said meters are only reliable for accuracy for about 15 years.

"As those moving internal parts wear, the accuracy of recording consumption diminishes. We need to replace those meters so that we can always rely on the meters recording accurate reads, so that we're billing people appropriately," he said. "Meters, in my experience, usually go almost without fail one way. They record less than what's actually being used, so it'd be working in the favour of the customer, yes."

Missing revenue for EnWin

Wladarski says putting in the new meters allows EnWin to make sure it's not missing out on revenue, which helps to cover the $310 cost of installing each new meter.

EnWin should also save money on meter reading once it finishes installing the water meters.

The new models being installed into homes and businesses are equipped with radio frequency transmitters.

Wladarski says this will greatly improve efficiency.

"It allows us to collect those reads on a drive-by basis, rather than having a meter reader visit each and every home. We can collect thousands of reads in an hour, rather than those same thousands of reads over days," said Wladarski.

The installation process for the new meters began three years ago. The project should be completed in 2020.