Austin Water has replaced nearly a quarter of all residential water meters as part of a major effort to modernize critical infrastructure and support customer efforts to conserve water and save money on their bills.
More than 50,000 new My ATX Water digital meters have been installed and, by 2025, the utility expects all customers served to have a new My ATX Water meter. The new digital infrastructure will provide a better understanding of how the entire water distribution system is performing at any given moment to enhance resilience to impacts from extreme weather.
“Advanced metering infrastructure is a significant strategy identified in Water Forward, Austin’s 100-year plan for water,” said Robert Goode, interim director for Austin Water. “This new infrastructure will be critical in helping to identify water loss from leaks and provide Austin Water with better information about areas with outages so that we can respond quickly to get things back online again.”
The My ATX Water program also includes a portal that gives Austin Water customers near-real-time data to better track and manage water use. Customers can set water use thresholds that would push notifications via email or phone. They can also sign up to receive customized water saving tips based on the water use specific to their household.
The My ATX Water customer portal will also provide alerts about continuous water usage that could indicate a leak. The portal is currently available to all Austin Water customers, regardless of whether they have received the new digital meter yet.
“Being able to provide this tool to our customers is important, particularly with this summer’s worsening drought conditions,” said Randi Jenkins, assistant director of customer experience for Austin Water. “As lake levels continue to drop, customers can see exactly how much water they are using in near-real-time. Having this information at their fingertips will really help reduce water use across the city. And as costs for gas and food are rising and impacting so many household budgets, the portal can help customers save on their water bill.”
