Flint, Michigan – August 3, 2015 – As part of the overall Capital Improvement Plan, the City of Flint has begun a program to replace water meters for all of its customers. The City has contracted with Metron-Farnier to provide up to 20,000 of the new meters over three years and with H2O Utility Services to perform installations of the first 9,000. The City of Flint wants its customers to know that the contracted installers from H2O Utility Service will be wearing company uniform shirts and a City of Flint issued identification badge. These employees WILL NOT accept any money and there is no cost to customers for the new water meters. Any resident being asked to pay or accept a bill for any meter work should call Flint Customer Service 810-766-7470, extension 2104.
The program will allow the City to better monitor its overall water usage, increase the efficiency of the system by potentially identifying areas of loss and help eliminate “estimated” meter reads. “The new meters will give us better readings on usage in the system and the ability to know if a customer has a leak or not,” said Director of Public Works Howard Croft. “Leaks can be costly issues if not caught. The planned Leak Detection System will compliment this work by showing us where we are losing water before it gets to the customers’ homes.”
The first 9,000 water meters identified have shown irregular readings and will be replaced with new, state-of-the-art, one piece meters. Work to install the new meters began this week in an area of the West side of the City. Residents were mailed notification of the work in their area. Meter replacement work will generally take place Mondays through Fridays between 8am-4pm.
There will be a limited number of evening and Saturday appointments available. Customers who are home during the designated times are asked to make sure the area around the existing water meter is clear of debris and allow approximately 30 minutes of time for the installer to complete their work.
Customers who miss an installer should contact H2O Utility Services at 1-800-634-7551 and schedule an appointment. “We will do our best to accommodate every schedule,” said Robert Bincsik, Water Distribution Supervisor. A highly visible sign will be posted on residents’ doors alerting them of attempts to make contact and urging them to make a follow up appointment. Three attempts will be made to contact customers and establish an appointment for work. If no contact and no appointment can be made by the third attempt, water service may be shut off until the resident makes an appointment.
Customers with questions regarding this project can find a Water Meter Replacement Program page on the City’s website cityofflint.com under the Residents tab. This page will include a Frequently Asked Questions document Work is expected to take place throughout fiscal year 2016.
