Current Meter Route Process
In 2016, the City shifted from collecting water meter information by walking routes and using handheld devices to Automated Meter Reading (AMR), which allowed information to be communicated to a vehicle as it drove past the meter. In 2021, an improvement project began that redesigned routes to be more AMR-efficient.
As of January 2022, there are 361 routes for reading 160,000 water meters each month. The new route design implemented in February 2022 will reduce this to 233 routes. This will reduce labor hours, vehicle miles traveled, and create efficiencies in data management.
Route Optimization Process Improvement
New routes have been developed to optimize the meter reading, create efficiencies, and plan for development of new routes as growth occurs. The goals of the proposed routes is:
- Based on 1-mile square sections
- Eliminate overlapping of routes
- Plan for new growth
Billing and Customer Impact
- Upon implementation, all readings shall be obtained in a 20-calendar day cycle
- Billing will occur within 5 business days as the meter reading occurs
- This will give customers the opportunity to address any potential leak/usage issues more rapidly
Implementation of new water meter routes will begin at the end of February 2022, with any changes being reflected on the bill mailed in March.
Most customers will not be impacted, customers who are anticipated to receive a bill for 38 days or more have been identified and will receive a postcard alerting them that their billing date and payment date will change going forward. Just because you do not receive a postcard does not necessarily mean you will not have extra days in your billing cycle or have a new billing/payment date. Please refer to your March bill to confirm.
Most changes are expected to be minimal, but if the changes cause you hardship, please contact 316-265-1300 or watercustomerservice@wichita.gov.
