City of Akron to Begin Installing Upgraded Water Meters
Akron H2O – Tap into the Future Program will Proactively Update Water Meters and Customer Service
City of Akron Press Release
From the desk of Kelli Stewart
Published: 08-31-2022
City of Akron to Begin Installing Upgraded Water Meters
Akron H2O – Tap into the Future Program will Proactively Update Water Meters and Customer Service
Akron, Ohio, August 31, 2022 — The City of Akron is announcing a program to modernize the entire customer service experience for water utility customers.
Akron H2O – Tap into the Future is a comprehensive project that brings several innovations to the City of Akron, including:
- An enhanced water meter for 100% of the customer base.
- Remote meter reading, leading to an overall greener footprint.
- An upgrade from 12 meter reads a year (monthly) to over 8,000 a year (hourly) for every customer, allowing customers to monitor their hourly usage data.
- Improved usage and billing information, leading to greater usage transparency.
- An upgraded Customer Information and Billing System designed to upgrade the overall customer experience.
- An upgraded work management system that will route customer service requests electronically, allowing for improved customer response times.
- An upgraded customer portal with a more intuitive user interface (UI) and self-service capabilities.
- A new data management system to aggregate and manage data that is controlled from one central location.
“The City of Akron is proud to be a leader in innovation,” said Akron Mayor Dan Horrigan. “The plan surrounding this key initiative has been carefully coordinated and organized to introduce upgrades to our service that will allow customers to better manage their water usage. I am excited to begin upgrading every water meter in our service territory and introduce new features to all our customers.”
This upgrade will provide City of Akron water customers with an enhanced water meter that is able to remotely transmit water consumption information, so that customers can monitor and manage their water usage and utility bill with a new set of easy-to-use customer tools within an upgraded web portal.
Once customers receive the enhanced water meter and upgraded customer portal, City of Akron water customers can:
- Understand their hourly water usage
- Detect potential leaks
- Create a series of custom usage alerts
- Budget for more consistent bills
“Our team has been strategizing for several months to bring this exciting upgrade to our customers. As the batteries on the City’s current meters began nearing their end-of-life, we proactively planned Akron H2O – Tap into The Future as the solution to advance our infrastructure and minimize disruptions in service,” said City of Akron water supply manager, Jeff Bronowski.
The City of Akron selected Utility Metering Solution (UMS) as its trusted service provider to help lead this project based on a track record of successfully executing similar programs for other forward-thinking cities. UMS will begin installing enhanced water meters in September 2022 and will have every meter upgraded within 20 months.
When installations begin in their area, City of Akron water customers will start receiving notices from UMS by mail to schedule a free enhanced water meter replacement. Instructions for scheduling an upgrade appointment will be included with that notice.
At the scheduled appointment time, a UMS installer will replace the customer's meter. The installation process will take less than an hour and the water should only be turned off for about 15 minutes, causing minimal disruption. This meter replacement is mandatory. It is critical to the overall success of the project that every customer help us by scheduling a meter replacement appointment with UMS when prompted to do so.
For further information, contact:
Kelli Stewart
Communications Specialist
E-mail: [email protected]
