(Angela Brown/battlefordsNOW staff)

By Angela Brown

New Technology

Installation for new smart water metres in North Battleford to start in March

Jan 15, 2021 | 2:37 PM

North Battleford residents are closer to having new high tech water metres in their homes.

The City of North Battleford confirmed the Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) Smart Metres will begin to be installed in the community starting in a couple of months.

“It will be a big project, and it will be going on throughout the year,” Mayor David Gillan said in an interview with battlefordsNOW.

The metre installation will officially begin March 1, 2021, and is expected to continue through Dec. 2021, replacing about 5,400 existing water metres within the city.

“The city will be mapped out in zones,” Gillan said. “The zones will be for 200 to 300 properties at a time, because we are talking over 5,000 metres. It will have to be done through phases. So they will organize with the homeowners in advance, and will request the homeowners contact them to set up a time to get into their house to change the metre.”

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The project was initially proposed to start in 2020 but was delayed due to the COVID-19 situation.

The new water metres will help reduce the cost to read the devices for billing purposes and provide real-time accurate water usage information for residents. They will also be able to alert residents of any possible water leaks or usage issues. The metres will also offer more efficiencies for the city’s waterworks and finance departments.

The city will update residents as the installation work progresses.

According to the city’s temporary environmental manager Jeffrey Blanchard’s recent report to council, KTI Limited (KTI) was awarded the contract to undertake the project. The KTI project manager and his team will hire and train members of the local community to complete the metre installations.

KTI representatives will hand-deliver mailer pamphlets and door hangers, requesting residents in that zone to contact KTI either through a new website link that will be provided, or using a phone number, to book an installation appointment.

Each zone installation is expected to take from five to six weeks, and installation is expected to speed up in the spring and summer.

Residents will have about four weeks to book their appointment. If they have not responded by that time the city will take action and send a registered letter notifying them their water will be shut off.

“The reason for such a drastic measure is we don’t want to belabor this project and have it basically delayed unconditionally, because residents are refusing to book,” Blanchard said.

He said the city will do its best to ensure residents are properly informed during the installation process.

If residents are away on vacation during the installation period they will have an option to make alternative arrangements.

As well, in light of the COVID-19 precautions, Blanchard said high-risk individuals will be given the opportunity to identify themselves in advance, so the city and KTI will make an effort to accommodate them.

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angela.brown@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @battlefordsNOW