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New water meters planned for Northlake
Public Works Superintendent Dale Roberts shows off an outside register that will replace existing registers on water meters | Mark Lawton~Sun-Times Media
Updated: February 25, 2013 12:15PM
NORTHLAKE — Water users in Northlake will soon be able to find out their water usage with a phone call.
Over the next three years the Public Works department plans to replace the outside registers on water meters. Those registers are entering their 11th year, one to three years past their life expectancy.
The current registers will transmit as far as the nearest street. Employees from Public Works drive a van by every house every two months – and by every commercial and industrial property once a month - and collect the readings.
The new registers are called Meter Interface Units. They contain an antenna in a small box. Once installed, water-use readings will be transmitted to two central antennas, which will in turn transmit directly to Northlake City Hall.
“When someone needs a final reading for the closing on a home, we don’t need to send any manpower out there,” Public Works Superintendent Dale Roberts said.
The entire project is estimated to cost $373,000. Public Works employees and summer help will install the registers during good weather, starting as soon as late April.
There are about 3,300 water meters in Northlake, Roberts said.
