RICHMOND COUNTY -- The recently completed water project to convert from old mechanical water meters to new digital technology has come in 35 percent under budget.
According to County Manager, Bryan Land, the county has saved $1.8 million thanks to the hard work and efforts of the county water department.
“There was a tremendous amount of sweat equity that went into this project by our employees,” Land recently commented.
The project was originally expected to cost $5 million, but has come in significantly under budget at $3.3 million.
“All of the employees that were involved in the AMI project deserve a huge pat on the back, this includes our water administration, meter technicians and water maintenance employees,” Land continued. “These men and women worked diligently to reduce our total project cost by performing a tremendous about of this work internally.”
Work completed in-house included repairing and replacing meter boxes, installing residential water meters, installing commercial water meters, preparing new lids for transmitter installation and repair and replacing outdated/aged materials.
“Preforming these tasks with Richmond County personnel allowed us to eliminate the need to hire an outside contractor, thus reducing the overall cost of the project,” Land noted.
The water project installed 7,500 new digital water meters at residential customers’ homes and many more at commercial sites across the county. The project will allow the water department to better monitor water usage and ensure that all customers are in fact charged for correct amount of water that is used.
“These are highly-sensitive, very accurate devices, the same devices that Duke Energy, Piedmont Natural Gas and other utilities have been using for at least two decades,” Land said.
Recent concerns about increases in water bills appear to have been addressed well by the water department. Most of the concerns stemmed from a longer billing cycle when the meters were first put in service at some locations.
In a recent article in the Richmond Observer, Land asked for anyone with a concern to please contact the County so the issue could be properly addressed. He suggested that the data can be reviewed with consumers to allow them to see when and how the water was used.
Leak detection has been much better with the new system as well. There have been several leaks detected and addressed as a result of the new meters. For any concerns about water bills, residents are encouraged to contact the County offices at 910-997-8211.
