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A dripping faucet. Photo by Danny Steaven. Source: Wikimedia commons

Thousands of malfunctioning water meters in DeKalb County will be replaced.

According to DeKalb County, 47,500 iPerl meters will be replaced over the next two years. The replacement is part of a legal settlement.

“Kendall Supply Inc. and Sensus USA Inc., pursuant to the meter warranty provision, also agreed to deliver and install 30,000 radio devices that transmit real-time customer water consumption data and reprogram 17,500 previously installed radio transmitters,” a county press release says. “The total value of the negotiated settlement amounts to approximately $8.64 million in equipment, installation and reprogramming services.”

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The county says Watershed Management purchased and installed 50,000 iPerl water meters between 2011 and 2015. The meters were manufactured before 2014 and the county says it believes they are defective, which has led to some of the horror stories throughout the county about water bills costing thousands of dollars.

“All iPerl meters installed during that four-year span will be replaced with new Accustream water meters,” the county says. “The Accustream meters are engineered to eliminate premature wear and designed to be compatible with the county’s radio transmitting Advanced Metering Infrastructure.”

The meters will have radio transmitters which the county says will generate more accurate billing data. The county will no longer have to manually read the meters, according to the county’s press release. The county says it hired an independent engineering expert to make sure the new meters work properly.

Watershed Management already has replaced more than 12,000 meters since January of this year.

“The county will replace approximately 102,000 meters which includes the 47,500 iPERL meters and 54,000 meters that have outlived product lifespan,” the county’s press release says.

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