New water meters could mean change in bills for Winnipeggers

Every home and business connected to the City of Winnipeg water supply could get a new water meter over the next few years, if the city approves a program to install more advanced metering systems.

There are more than 200,000 existing meters in the city, 60 per cent of which are past or nearing the end of their service life, according to a new report to the water and waste committee.

Committee chair Brian Mayes saysthe new meters wouldbe more accurate meaning some people could see a change in the amount they're billed.

"If your meter'sunder-recording, yeah, I think we can guarantee your water bill will go up," the St. Vital councillortold reporters on Tuesday.

"For other people, no, their bill may go down."

A business case analysis included in the report estimates that once implementation is complete,the more accurate readings of the new meters would increase revenue by $16 million a year.

The report estimates the new meters wouldcost $135 million to install, but would alsoreduce costs by $2.2 million. The installation costs would be recoupedover 10 years, the report estimates.

The new meters would be connected to a network thatautomatically measures water consumption, instead of being read manually.

The more accurate readerscould also help detect leaks early, said Mayes.

"We've had these awful cases of people getting water bills of $20,000 [or] $30,000 [and] going to the ombudsman reallyhorrible cases," he said.

He said while those situations are not the city's fault, "at least we can try and give people early warning there's something [wrong]."

Pilot project

The city conducted a pilot project beginning in 2019, which installed the new meters in 500 homes in River Heights.

Amanda Greisman was one of the participants in the pilot project. Although she didn't notice a difference in her water bill, she appreciated not having to manually read her meter.

"That part I noticed because we were one of those ones, we'd get the notice and we always forgot. So that was definitely nice not to have to worry about that anymore," she said.

If approved,people could start receiving the new meters by the end of next year, said Mayes.

The city expects it would complete the installations by 2029.

The report on the new meters goes to the water and waste committee at its meeting next Monday.