From The Pueblo Chieftain (Chris Wooka):
Since 2007, the Pueblo Board of Water Works has installed more than 19,000 meters in a system that has nearly 40,000. Four thousand more will be installed this year, and by 2016 the entire system should be fully automated, at a cost of a little more than $200 per meter. So far, about $4.9 million has been spent. Installations have been in the outer areas of Pueblo because that’s mainly where new development occurs and because there’s more travel involved in manually reading meters away from central Pueblo. “The map looks like a donut, but not exactly,” said Terry Book, deputy executive director of the Pueblo water board. “We’re working our way in; converting areas that are difficult to read.”[…]
As meters have been converted, the water board’s six meter readers have seen their jobs change. Three of them, including [Charles Garrett], already are working primarily as installers. Eventually, all six jobs will be converted. The installers will stay busy, though, because meters will be rotated every 10 years, both to maintain the accuracy and to make sure the batteries don’t run down. Changing them out also will allow the water board to take advantage of better technology as it is developed.
“Our meter readers have had almost no misreads,” said Book, who has been on the job for 32 years. But having water-use data available on a twice-daily basis, rather than once a month when meters were read manually, will lead to quicker identification of problems, he said.
More Pueblo Board of Water Works coverage here.