BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — Residents of Southwest Bakersfield will be the first in the city to receive upgraded water meters. The City of Bakersfield and Cal Water are partnering to replace 5,500 meters across the area. The hope is that the new meters will help the city conserve more water while lowering costs to residents.
"These new meters are expected to save customers 221 acre-feet of water each year, and they'll do that by providing real-time access to their own water use data," said Joe Conroy, Public Information Officer for the City of Bakersfield.
According to Conroy, the new meters will alert customers to potential leaks in real-time so residents can take quick action to address any issues. He says the project, funded by a nearly $500,000 Water and Energy Efficiency grant from the Bureau of Reclamation, will encourage water and energy conservation in the city.
"Because we won't have to be driving our vehicles out to check these meters and maybe replacing them as often as we were, or repairing them, it's actually going to reduce greenhouse gas emissions as well," Conroy points out.
Conroy says Cal Water will be responsible for installing the new meters for more than 20,000 Bakersfield residents sometime within this fiscal year.
Tamara Johnson with Cal Water says the agency will notify customers before they change their meters, and customers can expect a 15 to 30-minute shutoff while their meter is being replaced.
"The area that the city is going to be focusing on is one specific area of town that has meters that are aging out anyway," said Johnson.
Johnson adds that the project will help conservation efforts city-wide.
"It's a great step toward conservation and giving our customers real-time tools that they can use in order to make better decisions about how to use water for their residence," said Johnson.
Conroy says residents can expect Cal Water to begin installing the new meters in Southwest Bakersfield homes within the next fiscal year, with the entire project expected to be completed by May of 2025.
IN-DEPTH: INSTALLING NEW METERS - WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
According to Cal Water, the City of Bakersfield has requested that they accelerate the meter upgrade and installation program because of the critical importance of water conservation in Bakersfield and Kern County.
Cal Water says that in virtually all cases, new meters will be placed where the house's existing Cal Water valve is located.
Before coming in to install a new meter, Cal Water says they will contact homeowners twice by mail, first a few weeks before the scheduled install date, and then again a few days prior.
Homeowners will not need to be home while the meter is replaced. In the vast majority of upgrades, Cal Water employees will not need access to the inside of anyone's home.
Cal Water says it will make every effort to disturb homeowners' landscaping and property enhancements as little as possible, with the goal of leaving every yard exactly as they found it.
