NBC 7 Responds wanted to test out a retrofitted water meter found where the size of the meter's body and register do not match. The meter registered 3.4 cubic-feet of water or over 25 gallons, five-times the amount of water Laura had actually used. NBC 7 Responds conducted a non-scientific test on Ambrose’s meter by having her fill a five-gallon bucket while we recorded her water meter. The city has since walked back on their statement, saying some direct-read or analog water meters have been retrofitted to smart-meters that can relay water-use wirelessly.
NBC 7 Responds found purchase orders for water meter retrofit parts going back to 2012. Vogl continued, “And when that happens, then that register's not going to be properly recording the amount of water that goes through that meter. That has to do with the fact that the meter register has to be properly amassed with the meter body and so, if you have an old meter you could simply replace the register portion of that meter but there is the risk, and that's what happened in some other cases, is that they were mismatched.” In February, NBC 7 Responds asked the Public Utilities Department’s Deputy Director Mike Vogl about meter retrofits and he said, “If you look online, you would find several agencies that had problems where they did retrofit meters. The water meter's register size, here 1-1/2", should match the size of the water meter body.Ĭities such as Atlanta, Georgia have experienced problems with water meter retrofits for this very reason, meter parts being mismatched during the installation. The ¾-inch sized meter had a 1 ½-inch register installed. In a matter of minutes, the team found Ambrose’s smart meter had been retrofitted with mismatched parts. NBC 7 Responds met with Ambrose this week and inspected her water meter. “I think the fact is that something is radically wrong with the meter and that’s the only thing we can conclude,” Ambrose said. “I actually did a calculation and figured out the amount of water they claimed we were using would be the equivalent of filling a swimming pool every other day,” Ambrose said.Īmbrose said she contacted the city and employees from the Public Utilities Department were sent out, only to tell her the new water meter was working fine and she must have a leak or do a better job of conserving water. Then in January, Ambrose's bill jumped to 448 HCF, totaling over $4,800. In her June-through-September bill last year, after Laura’s water meter was replaced with a new smart water meter, Laura saw her bill jump to more than $800. Laura said her family usually pays around $200 every two months for 35 to 40 hundred-cubic-feet (HCF) of water. Barrio Logan Event Draws Attention to Human Trafficking in Community
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