Ever wonder how much water your family uses in a day? Or how much you’d save watering by hand instead of running the sprinklers? For the 65,000 customers already equipped with SAWS ConnectH2O electronic water meters, the answers to those questions — and so much more — are now just a click or tap away.
SAWS began installing the modern electronic meters last year, giving customers instant access to their hourly water use information.
“Our goal is to help you better understand and monitor your water use — to stop high water bills before they happen, saving you water and money,” said Karen Guz, SAWS vice president of Conservation.
While sometimes called “smart meters,” the ConnectH2O devices aren’t really all that clever. They simply take a meter reading once an hour and transmit it back to SAWS — wirelessly and securely.
The “smart” part is your ability to view and track your water use. Just log in at saws.org/myaccount and look for the “My Use” tab.
A smartphone app is also in the works to make monitoring your water even easier. Advanced features such as leak finder tools and high use alerts are also being developed.
The SAWS Board of Trustees recently voted to bring management of the ConnectH2O installation in-house, to speed up the pace of rollout. SAWS is currently connecting about 4,000 electronic meters per month. That’s expected to ramp up to 17,000 per month in 2024.
While installation so far has focused on new homes and “sick” meters, widespread replacements will begin later this year. The aim is to swap out all 550,000 of the utility’s mechanical meters by the end of 2026.
“You’ll get a post-card in the mail about two weeks ahead of your scheduled meter replacement,” said Meghan Patronella, Customer Service director. “We also have a dedicated team to answer any questions you may have after your ConnectH2O meter is installed.”
To learn more, visit saws.org/connect.