The City of Amarillo was awarded $29.5 million Thursday (Feb. 13) by the Texas Water Development Board for an automated water meter system, which will include automated water meter billing.
The TWDB resolution will fund an automated water meter system citywide for all residential and commercial City of Amarillo customers – roughly 72,000 customers.
“The resolution by the Texas Water Development Board will significantly improve and enhance the city’s water meter infrastructure,” said City of Amarillo Assistant City Manager of Public Services Floyd Hartman. “This will allow for automated meter reading for all water customers for the City of Amarillo. This will greatly improve customer service and allow for additional improvements in the future for all City of Amarillo utilities.
“We greatly appreciate the Texas Water Development Board and their dedication to helping Amarillo’s water infrastructure.”
The TWDB resolution includes $28.5 million in financing for the advanced metering infrastructure, and $1 million in principal forgiveness from the Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) for construction. There is a projected savings of $4.6 million due to reduced interest and the CWSRF grant.
The advanced metering infrastructure will provide for more accurate water meter readings. In addition, the project will allow real time flow detection and customer notification of potential leaks. The system will also aid in water conservation and water system security.
The tentative timeline for Amarillo and the automated water meter system includes a construction start date of Oct. 1, 2020 and a tentative completion date of Oct. 1, 2022.
For more information contact City of Amarillo Communications Manager Dave Henry at (806) 378-5219 or by email at David.Henry@amarillo.gov.
-City of Amarillo
