At its February 12th, 2018 meeting, the City Council of Orillia, Ontario awarded a contract to Wamco Municipal Products to complete the installation of smart meters for water use.

Installation of the technology will take place throughout 2018. The smart meters will assist the city and its residents in integrating information and communication technology, reducing costs and resource consumption, and assisting in the reduction of its carbon footprint.

“Upgrading to smart meters is better for the environment and provides our staff with tools to provide a higher level of service to property owners,” said Orillia Mayor Steve Clarke. “We will now have the ability to monitor in real-time and receive notifications for unusual usage, allowing staff to catch potential leaks and provide early notification to the owner.”

The new infrastructure will also provide property owners with the opportunity to manage and track their usage through a customer portal that is anticipated to be launched in 2019. Once available, customers will have the ability to set up their own threshold notifications to track their water usage and budgets, be notified of abnormal usage from leaks or device failures, trend their water usage, and observe their water usage when they are out of the city.

“By implementing this infrastructure, significant efficiencies can be provided for current meter reading, billing, maintenance, and management of the water meter assets,” said Andrew Schell, director, Environmental Services and Operations for the city.

Orillia implemented its first phase of smart metering in 2015 concentrating on commercial and new residential properties. The second phase of the project will be funded through the Water and Wastewater Reserve.

Image Credit: Padraic Ryan.

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