By John Howell
Como aldermen voted September 9 to try a new water metering system to more accurately track customers’ water consumption.

Owen Conner of Oxford, representing Coburn Supply Company of Tupelo, introduced a pilot program that will replace 25 existing water meters with his company’s new meters.

Alderwoman Tonia Heard asked Conner to visit Como when she saw his presentation in June during the Mississippi Municipal League Convention.

“Our company will come in; … we will put in 25 radio-reading meters; we will give you computers, software —everything you need to read the meters — and we will do that for three months without any charge,” Conner said, speaking to the board of mayor and aldermen at their regular monthly meeting.

“Our men will come in and do training. … In that three months time frame, if y’all decide that y’all like the system, that you would like to buy the system, you’re looking at $13,000 for the 25 meters and for all the computer software and all that.

“If you’re not happy with the system and what’s going on, we will come in; we will take this radio-read head off this meter; we will put a regular head on the water meter,” Conner said. “We will leave the 25 meters in the ground. We will take our computers and software back and it (won’t) cost you a dime,” he continued.

In the interim, the radio-read water meter vendor continued, the old meters would be tested for accuracy.

“It’s going to show the loss you’re having on your revenue,” Conner said. Older water meters slow down and under-read the volume of water that passes through them, he said.
Conner said that the meters would be read from a radio signal transmitted to laptop computer in the meter reader’s vehicle as he drives by.

“It reads as fast as the driver can travel the route,” Conner said. The system also issues alerts to abnormal water usage

“I think it’s a good idea, myself,” said Alderwoman Rachel Powell, who has often mentioned constituent complaints that allege overbilling for water use.

The Coburn representative said that water bills would likely increase with the new meters more accurately detecting the volume flowing through.

“You could possibly be losing 40 to 50 percent,” on an old meter that does not detect slow water usage, Conner said.

“You would definitely need to educate your people that : ‘We’re implementing a new water system, and your bill could possibly go up.’”

“It’s costing the City of Como every day to pump this water and bring it to your customers and if you’re not getting reimbursed for it then you’re getting further and further in the hole,” Conner said.

“I think it will be a good idea to move forward with it; I think we would learn a lot about meters and the Como area,” Mayor Everette Hill said.

“So, Miss Rachel, the one that you say got that high bill, if you don’t mind, give me their name, we’re going to give them a shot at these new meters,” the mayor said.

Powell made the motion to participate in the three month trial, Alderwoman Teresa Dishmon made a second. Alderwomen Heard and Ruby Higgenbottom and Alderman John Walton joined to make the vote unanimous.

A general discussion of placement of the meters followed the vote, including a chorus of, “I volunteer mine” from the audience.

“I know y’all volunteered but we’ve got to see the people that got the major problems first,” Hill said.

“We need to go to the ones that (have) the major problems,” Powell said. “Then we go back to the ones that (don’t have any) problems and see of their bills go up.

Other considerations:
• Commercial radio-read meters are available. Coburn can place its radio heads on relatively new commercial meters, “to keep y’all from having to buy all new meters,” Conner said. Commercial meters will not be part of the 25-meter trial;
• If the town decides to proceed with installation of more meters following the three month trial, it can install them at intervals;
• Conner’s company would provide financing, if desired, he said;
• Testing of the 25 old meters replaced during the three-month trial will be conducted by a third party, Conner said, responding to a question from a member of the audience;
• If the town fully implemented the radio-read meters and found that it increased revenue from water sales, officials would consider lowering sewer bills, Mayor Hill said, responding to a question from another member of Tuesday night’s audience.