If you haven’t already, Akron water customers must sign up for appointments to schedule a free installation of new, higher-tech water meters. The old meters, which were installed around 2004, are coming to the end of their approximately 20-year battery life. 

The city has continued to work neighborhood by neighborhood on the project throughout its water service area, said Ken Crisp, the manager of the advanced metering infrastructure group leading the replacements. It has replaced about two-thirds of the meters, or about 58,000 of 89,000 total.

The project should be complete before summer 2025, but Crisp said he’s pretty sure the contractor will finish around April, with the city completing the meter installations on a smaller, clean-up scale.  

Ken Crisp, the manager of the advanced metering infrastructure group leading the replacements
The City of Akron is working neighborhood by neighborhood throughout its water service area to install new, higher-tech water meters. Ken Crisp, the manager of the advanced metering infrastructure group leading the replacements, said the city has replaced about two-thirds of the meters, or about 58,000 of 89,000 total. The old meters, which were installed around 2004, are coming to the end of their approximately 20-year battery life. (Screengrab via Zoom.)

Installs currently in Ellet and lower East Akron, coming soon to central and south central neighborhoods

Installations are rotating around the city based on the oldest meters and radios, so first in, first out, more or less in a clockwise rotation around the city. Some neighborhoods in the rotation still have pockets where the meters haven’t been installed. 

The majority of work happening now is in Ellet and the lower east side of Akron, which are getting most of the 150 to 200 installs being performed each day, but the whole city is still seeing some installs and clean up work.

Letters will go out soon for the central and south central parts of Akron near Arlington Street, south of Market Street, in areas with many rental units. When that happens, tenants can go ahead and schedule the meter replacements themselves, Crisp said. They can also watch for blue or yellow door tags notifying them that it’s their neighborhood’s turn.

A blue door hanger.
A blue door hanger is the second notification step if you don’t schedule with the city to get your water meter replaced. (Susan Zake / Signal Akron)

Step-by-step scheduling process

If you haven’t had your meter installed yet, here’s how it works: 

  1. First, you should receive a letter from the contractor the city is working with, Utility Metering Solutions, that points to the website AkronH2O, (the letter O, not the number zero). 
  2. Add your basic information to the form, then click the “book now” button. You’ll see a calendar with days and times you can schedule your meter replacement, typically Monday through Friday. Some limited Saturday dates are also available. More will be added as the project nears completion.
  3. If your neighborhood’s cycle isn’t open, you won’t be able to schedule until it is. 
  4. If the web isn’t a good option for you, call 844-741-6248 Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. 

If you miss the letter and see installations happening in your area, you can still go to the website to schedule.  A blue door hanger is the next step if you don’t schedule after the letter arrives. If you don’t respond to the door hanger, the next one will be yellow, with a more urgent message for you to get scheduled.

If you don’t respond to the yellow door hanger, the City of Akron will come out and place an official turn-off notification on city letterhead, since the city is the entity that turns water on and off, not the contractor. If you go ahead and schedule the appointment, the city will not shut off your water.

Crisp said, “We go through many available means to contact that customer before that were to happen.” 

New system, new ways to monitor and flag usage 

The new system will be “substantially more robust,” Crisp said, will hold more information and will “be able to communicate with the customer based on user preference.” Customers can ask to be contacted via text, phone call, automated message, email or physical mail. 

The system will also be better able to monitor water-usage patterns, if the customer wants it, and can show them how and when they’re using water. 

The new meters come with radios, which are typically installed on the outside of the house, that talk to a base station once every four hours and dump their data, which they’re reading on the meter every hour.

If a customer normally uses 1000 gallons a month, and their bill is consistently charging for that amount, then the bill suddenly goes up to 1,200 or 1,500 gallons a month, Crisp said they can “go in there” and see what’s happening.

“It’s hard to find during the day, during normal operation, so when you’re showering, doing dishes, watering the lawn, laundry, especially it’s hard to find any extra there,” Crisp said. But when the system sees consumption when everything in the house is supposed to be off, like at night, “that’s when we can start dialing it down and finding it. That’s pretty cool.” 

In addition to the meter upgrades, the related billing system and work order management system is being upgraded. The cost is nearly $60 million for the whole package, which also includes a customer information system and a customer engagement portal.

Water shut off will last about an hour

About 6,000 of those left to be completed are located outside the residence, typically in the lawn or on the exterior of the house. Those replacements are minimally invasive to the client, who will be notified when they’re switched out.

About 150 3-inch commercial industrial meters remain to be replaced, each of which presents a different installation scenario so it will be least disruptive to the business. Crisp said they’ll work with each business to be sure the install is “agreeable to their operations,” even if that means performing the work overnight or on a holiday.

One stumbling block the project may encounter is what Crisp calls “the finished basement scenario,” which is where your meter is in a location that’s not easily accessible. Basically, the worker will need to be able to run the transmitter wire to the outside – sometimes, that means the transmission wire will be visible in your basement and run up the wall. The contractor will work with you to find the best solution for your house.

During the installation, your water will be turned off for about an hour, which is about the time it will take to install the new meter. You must be present for the installation if your meter is indoors, and be sure to clear a pathway so the area is clear of obstacles and accessible to the installer. 

The contractors from Utility Metering Solutions should have an ID badge. They will be wearing a gray shirt with “UMS” on the sleeve or front or bright yellow t-shirts, jackets or vest with “UMS” on the back. Their vehicles will also have a large UMS magnet on the side. All of the employees were run through a background check.

Editor-in-Chief (she/her)
Zake has deep roots in Northeast Ohio journalism. She was the managing editor for multimedia and special projects at the Akron Beacon Journal, where she began work as a staff photographer in 1986. Over a 20-year career, Zake worked in a variety of roles across departments that all help inform her current role as Signal Akron's editor in chief. Most recently, she was a journalism professor and student media adviser at Kent State University, where she worked with the next generation of journalists to understand public policy, environmental reporting, data and solutions reporting. Among her accomplishments was the launch of the Kent State NewsLab, an experiential and collaborative news commons that connects student reporters with outside professional partners.