When you work in the water utility industry, you expect some amount of water loss through leaky transmission lines and meter issues. But what if downsizing the meters in your supply system could ensure you'd regain those lost profits through more accurate record keeping? In this post, we're going to discuss a few real-world examples where downsizing helped the client greatly reduce waste and increased profits significantly. Here's what they found:
Imagine saving over 400,000 gallons of water every day, just by doing something as simple as downsizing. Though this sounds like something too good to be true, the city of Boston did just that. When the city downsized 400 meters, they gained over 1,000 gallons a day in lost revenue from each new meter. This accounted for a significant amount of water that has previously disappeared in the system and allowed the city to regain nearly $2 million in lost revenues.
But Boston isn't the only place where meter downsizing is being used to save money. In many cities across the country, home owners and business owners are able to request a meter downsize, allowing them to capitalize on lower rates. One home owner cited a change from a 1" meter to a 3/4" meter that cost the home owner $400, but lowered her bill by $35 per month, so she was able to pay off the cost of the work in under a year. How does something as simple as downsizing a meter result in the savings being seen by both water utilities and everyday home and business owners? Here are some of the areas where the savings is coming from:
1. A smaller meter is able to more accurately record the amount of water flowing through it. This leads to fewer overall losses and improved, more accurate revenues.
2. A properly sized meter is less likely to fail, creating better overall reliability and fewer customer service concerns. This means that less maintenance is required, allowing the utility to realize lower overhead costs and fewer customer service complaints while providing superior performance.
3. Meter downsizing allows for sub-metering of individual units in a multi-dwelling residence or business structure. This means that in an apartment or strip mall, more accurate costs are passed on to each individual unit, preventing arguments between neighbors.
Many utilities who offer meter downsizing as an option to home owners and businesses will charge a lower base rate on a monthly basis. This allows the end user to choose to save money and reduce their water consumption at the same time, providing the water utility with a public appearance of working to save the customer's money rather than simply requiring downsizing across the board.
By downsizing your current meters, your utility can also see significant gains in the near and distant future. Still not sure if downsizing meters is the way to go for your utility? We understand that you may have additional questions or concerns and are ready to address them. Please feel free to contact the professionals at Red Hed Manufacturing for more information or with any questions you may have whatsoever.
