Water meter replacement project continues

Reporter

The City of Thief River Falls reminds Thief River Falls residents and business owners to schedule appointments to replace their water meters. The city is replacing all of the 3,500 residential and commercial water meters in the city.

Water Systems Superintendent Wayne Johnson said about one-third of those individuals still need to make appointments. They haven’t responded to letters sent by HydroCorp, a contractor working with Core & Main to replace the water meters. Johnson believed it’s a matter of setting the letter aside and it getting lost in the shuffle. Some have refused to allow HydroCorp to install the water meters, but Johnson said the city will deal with those individuals at the end of the project.

If a resident or business owner has the letter on hand, the individual can schedule the appointment online using their specific code. For those who misplaced the letter or never received the letter, they can call HydroCorp at 1-800-315-4305.

Appointment times are listed in four-hour blocks or there is a 4 to 6 p.m. block. Johnson said people can also schedule a specific time with HydroCorp if their schedule doesn’t enable them to be home for a four-hour period. Water meter installation usually takes about 15 minutes, but the HydroCorp allows for some flexibility in its schedule in the event it takes longer to install a particular water meter.

It has been more than 30 years since the city water meters have been replaced. The city commercial and residential water meters are being replaced to be compatible with the city’s Advanced Metering Infrastructure system.

Residents may recall that their water meters were retrofitted with new heads to accomodate the new AMI system in 2014. However, quite a few water meter bodies were left in place, and the city has been waiting years for nodes. As a result, someone has to manually read the water meters without nodes, defeating the purpose of the AMI.

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