As part of the City of Tulsa’s ongoing mission to provide residents the highest quality water and service, more than 145,000 residential water meters are planned to be upgraded over the next several years with new automated water meters.
The replacement of City water metering equipment is part of the True Reads AMR/Service Line Inventory Program, a joint program that also will involve a systematic investigation to categorize service line material and ensure the City’s system is free of lead pipes.
Following an RFP process, the True Reads program is expected to begin later this year and is estimated to take 3-5 years to complete.
“We’re pairing these two projects together to save money and be as efficient as possible to meet these requirements and provide the highest quality water to our customers,” City of Tulsa Water and Sewer Director Eric Lee said.
Automated Meter Reading (AMR) is a communication technology used by water utilities to automatically collect water consumption data from water meters.
Once installed citywide, the new AMR meters will automatically store water usage data that can be transmitted to a City vehicle driving down the street using a low-level radio signal (similar to signals currently used in City trash carts or in PikePass sensors).
The meter data is then transferred to a database, where the City’s Utility Billing Department can monitor and analyze usage, troubleshoot issues and bill customers based on actual consumption. The technology will drastically reduce water bill estimates once all meters are installed.
Tulsans may already be familiar with this technology, as other Tulsa utilities like PSO and ONG utilize this automated meter technology, and nearby communities like Jenks and Owasso use AMR for their water systems. In addition, the City of Tulsa has been using AMR meters for years in areas where it is difficult or dangerous to manually read meters.
AMR Meter Upgrade Program to Assist with Lead Service Line Inventory Effort
The service line inventory portion of the program is related to a new federally mandated regulation – the revised Lead & Copper Rule (LCRR) – that was announced in 2022 by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) requiring all U.S. cities to develop and update their inventory of lead service lines by Oct. 16, 2024.
Tulsa is complying with this EPA mandate by capitalizing on the installation of the new AMR meters to conduct an extensive investigation of service lines in the city (where lead lines or connectors would be located).
According to Melissa Gray, the City’s Utility Systems Operations Manager and project manager for the True Reads program, the City of Tulsa does not have lead water mains and historical records show copper and galvanized metal pipe were used for service lines in Tulsa. However, during previous inspections Water and Sewer Staff have found a small amount of lead connectors (small sections of pipe used to connect a house’s service lines to meters or a mainline).
“The City has been replacing these lead connectors since the 1950s as we’ve found them during routine work on water lines and meters,” Gray said. “We typically see these lead connectors in older parts of town where the construction dates from the 1920s and 1930s.”
City crews have done initial inspections of 600-700 homes of the oldest construction date; in those houses, less than 1 percent had lead connectors and none had longer lead service water lines.
More information on the True Reads program is available online.
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