A meter changeout program is currently underway in Petal, MS. The CWS team is assisting an outside contractor with the replacement of 3,662 meters throughout the city, installing new radio-read units in place of the existing, outdated equipment.
When CWS began work for the City in October 2022, there were between 80 to 100 hand reads each month. This process usually took about a day and a half with everyone reading them. But as the meters continued to fail, the number of hand reads continued to increase. While CWS did replace some of the meters over the years, it was only a start. Now, it takes nearly two weeks to read them, taking valuable time away from other responsibilities.
“Our goal is to get this issue resolved in a timely manner,” said Matt Fountain, CWS Project Manager in Petal. “That being said, our team has been working overtime to assist with this effort. The goal for October was 350 changeouts, but to date, we have completed more than 460. We have already seen a tremendous improvement– going from 1,599 hand reads last month to under 1,000 this month. We have an exceptional partnership with Mayor Ducker and the other city officials. They understood the issues and we have worked together as team to resolve them.”
The estimated cost for the meter replacement initiative is nearly $500,000 and should be completed in mid-2025.
