COLUMBIA, S.C. — Every house in Columbia will soon have a digital water meter installed in their yard.
The project is part of the City's "Envision Columbia" plan to bring "innovative and high quality municipal services" to residents, according to Ben Wildt with Columbia Water.
News19 joined Doug Brooks, an employee of the City of Columbia, while he installed a new meter Thursday.
"It takes actually about five to 10 minutes," Brooks said while cranking his wrench on a pipe.
Brooks installs about 10 to 15 meters a day, replacing old analog ones that have been in the ground for as long as 35 years.
He said most installations are smooth sailing, but sometimes leaks happen due to fragile, old pipes.
"In some instances, things just happen, where the pipe is so old, we do come across a leak," said Brooks. "In that case, we have all the proper tools and proper knowledge to get it fixed.”
However, if a homeowner notices something wrong after the installation, Columbia Water suggests calling their Customer Care center or asking for help on their online chat.
Wildt said if a leak occurs from the installation, the City will come back out and take a look at it.
Undetected leaks could cause a spike in your water bill until it’s fixed. According to Wildt, Columbia will adjust bills after leaks "on a case by case basis."
Another reason for a potential higher charge, according to Wildt, could be because the new meters are more accurate on picking up water flow than the analog ones.
"Many of our analog meters here in Columbia were not giving accurate readings. Some of our meters have been in the ground for over 30 years, so these new digital meters will be a much more accurate measurement of water," explained Wildt.
The digital meters allow homeowners to track their water usage in a new, smart way. After the installation, customers can download the "Eye on Water" app to see exactly how much water they’re using.
The app can also detect leaks, where as the old meters had to be manually checked by the City once a month.
There are about 30,000 meters left to be installed.