The SAWS H2O website that provides information on the new electronic water meter installation states:
“ConnectH2O Installation Schedule
Installation of electronic water meters throughout the SAWS service area is underway and will be ongoing until 2026. New addresses are added to the schedule every six months.”
Up until now, the installation schedule for our neighborhood has reflected “Not yet scheduled” for our neighborhood’s installation status.
However, that status has now changed to:
“Installation coming soon.
It is coming soon! Your address has been placed on the schedule and it is scheduled for installation within the next 6 months. When we are two weeks out, we will mail you a post card to the mailing address on file.”
Several Stone Oak Nextdoor members have complained about high water pressure damage immediately after their new electronic water meter was installed. Nextdoor member Ji M. provided the following advice for homeowners/residents having the new meter installed:
“1. Take a picture of the old meter to check for proper billing (although this is hard to see on your bill as they don't explicitly break it out). If you cannot be at home every day to do it upon installation, take a picture every day until installation occurs.
2. When they replace the meter, turn off the water to your house and your sprinkler system. If you can't be home and have a sprinkler, turn off the water to the sprinkler system (I would say also turn off the water to your home, but most people can't, do not know how to do it and it is impractical to do this daily). It is not always possible to turn off the water to your home on the day they are there since notification is not precise (in our neighborhood folks posted once they noticed the replacements starting).
3. Once replaced, turn the water on to your home (if you turned it off) and run the water at each outside water faucet for a couple of minutes, then do the same, in order, at bathtub faucets, water faucets, showers, sink faucets. Toilets and other appliances should be last. That means, if you are not at home when it happens, do NOT go home and flush the toilets first. The reason is that the meter replacement often introduces debris (e.g., very small stones) into your pipes. So, you need to try to flush these out at the biggest and unscreened faucets first (e.g., the outside faucets and bathtubs). This helps to avoid these getting into the valves of appliances (e.g., toilets, washing machines, dishwashers, water softeners, sprinklers) where they get stuck, forcing a leak. So why run water thru all these other items, in order to eliminate the air that may have been introduced by the meter replacement.
4. Check the meter (when you are not using water) to make sure there is no water leak (see the SAWS instructions for using the new meters) by going to the instantaneous usage screen and making sure it shows 0 gps. If you see that the meter is showing usage (and you are sure you have no water use in the house), you need to get the leak fixed. I was able to watch the meter being installed, was able to shut off water to the house first and check for meter leaks right after installation before turning the water back on to the house. Not everyone can do this. 4a. If you have a potential leak, turn off the water to your house on your side of the meter and sprinkler (if you know how to or can; hard to do if you have the water boxes with locked covers). If this shows a leak (e.g., meter is still running), or if there is water under or around the meter, call SAWS to fix the meter. 4b. If you have a potential leak and it is not the new meter, start becoming a detective and listen to all your devices in your house to see if you can hear any slight running of water (you may have to hire a lumber).
5. If you can, check the water pressure before and after the installation. If it has increased beyond recommended limits, it may be due to the new meter and can lead to leaks soon or in the future. You may need to have a pressure regulator installed.
6. Be prepared for sticker shock. Due to mineral deposits in the old analog meters, they start to under-report water usage after only a few years. Once the new meter is installed, a more accurate reading is being used and therefore more usage reported.
SAWS ‘How to read an electronic water meter’: https://www.saws.org/connecth2o/how-to-read-your-electronic-water-meter/
SAWS ‘Reading Electronic Water Meter to Help Identify Leaks”: https://www.saws.org/connecth2o/reading-water-meter-to-help-identify-leaks/
SAWS Connect H2O Frequently Asked Questions: https://www.saws.org/connecth2o/faqs/
