The Town of Okotoks is in the final push for new water meter upgrades, as only 1000 replacements remain the residential sector.

The Water Conservation and Leak Detection Program has been replacing outdated meters with new Corix water Products meters for about a year now, with approximately 7,400 new devices installed.

Dawn Smith, Sustainability Coordinator for the Town of Okotoks says once all meters are installed they'll not only save the town money, but residents too.

"When you get your upgrade one thing is we can read it from a long distance, in the past EPCOR would have to drive up and down the streets to get meter readings and now we can do it from one central location, so it's an efficiency based on operations. But second it provides much more enhanced information for the citizen, so they can get hourly readings, and go online to look at their consumption."

She adds there are a lot of other benefits residents can see from the Corix meters, the upgrades and replacements will bring customers leak protection, back flow monitoring, and remote connectivity to a consumer portal.

Smith shares there is a possbility if citizens do not get their meter changed, it may result in a flat fee added to a bill based on council approval.

"If citizens don't get their meter changed we're probably going to have to implement a flat fee for those residents next year, that would probably be higher than if they were on the new meter. It's just outdated technology, typically under-reporting, so a lot of water gets through that's not being reported, those citizens right now would be paying less on their utility bill so they're getting away with some free water. When they get upgraded obviously everyone would be on the same even playing field."

To learn more on getting your meter replaced click here.

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