BLOOMFIELD, NJ -- During last Monday night’s meeting, the Bloomfield Mayor and Council voted to move forward with a project to completely modernize the Township’s water meter reading structure. The Council unanimously voted to undergo a water meter replacement project throughout town that will replace all meters with state-of-the-art smart water meters which can be monitored from a central hub. This new meter system will provide for accurate meter that the homeowner can monitor in real time. With the system, internal plumbing leaks will be identified immediately by the Township and the homeowner as opposed to waiting for the end of the billing period. A dripping faucet can waste hundreds of thousands of gallons of water per day, and hundreds of dollars per month.
The Township selected Edison-based Core and Main, LP to purchase and install these smart Sensus meters. The Township is utilizing the New Jersey Infrastructure Bank to finance the $6.9M project. A key component of the project will be the free installation of water meters in all residences, which should take only 15-20 minutes to install most household meters. Letters will go out to every residence in town over the next month to alert homeowners of scheduled replacements.
“As many residents know, we are taking great steps to ensure not only the cleanliness of our water sources but also eliminating loss of water, which ends up costing all ratepayers. The purchase and installation of smart water meters is worth the investment, as it will save residents money in the long-term,” said Mayor Michael Venezia. “I would like to thank Township Administrator Matthew Watkins and Township Engineer Paul Lasek for the countless hours they have dedicated to planning and researching, as well as our project consultant, T&M Associates, for their hard work in getting us to this point.”
Meter replacement will begin approximately July 1, with 50-60 meters replaced daily. The project was pre-approved by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. While the Township has made improvements in water main leak detection, the primary concern was loss of water through inefficient, aged meters. Most current home meters are over 20-30 years old.
“With the upgrade our Town-wide meter system, we can prevent a significant amount of water being wasted. The conservation of water, our most valuable resource, will also save taxpayers money. Our new system-wide meter system will be able to more quickly detect leaks and water pressure levels,” said Township Engineer Paul Lasek. “The real time monitoring, which takes place in Town Hall, will inform us if any meter is running abnormal amounts of water. With the assistance of our residents and businesses, we can expect this project, and the installation of approximately 12,000 meters, to be complete by the end of next summer.”