Water Division on schedule with new device installation

The city’s Water Division said in a news release that it has replaced about 40 percent of water meters in the city with new Neptune R900 transmitting devices, intended to improve billing accuracy and service for utility customers.

“Crews are halfway through a two-year process to replace more than 18,000 residential and commercial transmitting devices, as well as outdated meters that are not compliant with current standards,” the release said.

The new system will allow water meter data to be transmitted to 24 city-owned antennas that will receive and read the information, eliminating the need to walk or drive past every home and business with utility services, the release said.

Antennas are on water towers, fire stations, lift stations and water booster stations with their location determined primarily by best radio coverage for data collection.

The system is still being tested and is not yet being used for billing purposes. “As we complete device installations one billing cycle at a time, we will switch over to the new system,” the city stated in the release.

For a fee, customers may opt out of the new devices, or have them placed a distance from their home. For more information, call the Utility Billing Division at 269-966-3366 or visit www.battlecreekmi.gov, and navigate to the I Want To… tab, Learn About, Water Meter Fixed Network.