Madison Water Utility reconnects customers during heat advisory

Due to the current heat advisory, Madison Water Utility has reconnected water service to two homes that we believe are occupied. The homes are among 44 properties that have had service disconnected because property owners have not responded to our repeated requests to upgrade their water meters. We believe the remaining 42 disconnected properties are vacant. When the heat advisory ends, we will again disconnect service to the occupied homes unless we are granted access to make the necessary meter upgrades. These customers were first notified last summer about the city-wide installation of our new Project H2O water meter reading system, and installers have knocked on their doors and left informational materials many times since. Some property owners have told us flatly to move forward with disconnection rather than allow our technicians inside their homes. It's important to note that even if a property owner chooses to opt-out of the new Project H2O water meter reading system, we must still gain access to the meter in order to change its readout from cubic feet (ccf) to gallons. So far, the Project H2O advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) system has been installed in more than 62,700 homes, apartments and businesses across Madison. Project H2O allows the Water Utility to receive real-time usage data, helping us spot large leaks and plumbing problems - hundreds of residential customers have been alerted to major water leaks so far thanks to Project H2O. By the end of this year, customers will be able to track their day-to-day usage online. By the spring of 2014, customers will begin receiving bills on a monthly basis instead of semi-annually.

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