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"Smart" Water Meters Coming To Kalamazoo

City of Kalamazoo

The Kalamazoo City Commission has approved a plan to install new "smart" water meters.

Some people who get their water from the city will have smart water meters installed in 2020. Kalamazoo Public Services Director James Baker says that's a plus for customers.

“We’re not changing anything in terms of billing cycles or anything like that. But we can get information much faster, so we can see if something is going on with that account, and we can alert the account holder of situations. It’s going to be that much more beneficial to the customer.”

Baker says that includes detecting water leaks and helping the system become more efficient. Baker says a 2018 pilot program tested the new technology. He says it exceeded expectations and the new meters will first be installed in Oshtemo and Texas townships, and in some parts of Western Michigan University’s campus.

“This $1.1 million project involves about 2,856 individual meter replacements, so it’s a pretty good chunk. That’s going to work towards that smart meter implementation.”(P)

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