Also serving the communities of De Luz, Rainbow, Camp Pendleton, Pala and Pauma

Rainbow Water replaces water meters

Rick Monroe

Special to the Village News

It's a major project to replace 8,700 water meters with a budget of $10.9 million. That's the Rainbow Municipal Water District's task, now 68% completed, said Robert Gutierrez operations manager for RMWD.

The 18-month project should be completed by February, Gutierrez said.

Some new homes don't need their meters replaced, but the district's 80 square miles cover nearly all of Fallbrook and Rainbow.

Tom Kennedy, general manager of the district since 2014, said there were several reasons for the meters being replaced.

"The district has been paying 7% more than what we should have been paying for water because many of the old meters were not working properly," he said. "Already, that has been reduced to 3.5%, which means we're closer to paying for just the water being used. When we purchase water not billed, everyone winds up paying for it."

Kennedy also said nearly 75% of RMWD customer meters being replaced are outfitted with a separate radio system that greatly decreases labor costs associated with manually walking the system to gather reads. While this system has worked well, the radio system is separate from the meter and connected with a wire frequently damaged by rodents or other external factors. In addition, many of these radios have batteries nearing the end of their useful lives.

He said there was also a large amount of meters with broken, substandard, or undersized meter boxes. Some didn't have good shut-off valves and the new meters all have that safety feature included.

The district budgeted $5.5 million for meters and $5.2 million for installation, a joint project between RMWD and a contractor, Concord Utility Services.

Customers having their meters replaced are normally without water for about an hour, Kennedy said. Customers are notified with postcards, signs and a link to a map on the RMWD web page about when their meter will be switched.

Gutierrez, who is responsible for overseeing maintenance and construction, meter services, operations, fleet services and wastewater throughout the district, said the meter switch has gone smoothly. He admitted there have been a few minor issues usually in the installation process.

"Typically, the new meters are more accurate than the ones that are 20 years old," Gutierrez added.

However, not every customer has been as satisfied with the new meter. Dave Patton, who lives on Via Mariposa Norte in the Saratoga Estates development, saw a huge rate increase on his bill and contacted the Village News to see if others were reporting issues.

"I was so frustrated," he said during an interview. "I thought my only resolution was the media. My water bill was 10 times its usual amount. It was like I was filling a swimming pool every other day."

Patton said the problem was that for months, the district said on the phone that they would take care of it, but they didn't.

"The district didn't seem to have documentation or a paper trail of my phone calls," he said. "When I didn't pay my bills, they placed a lien on the property."

Since then – "after three frustrating months" – the problem seems to be fixed with a credit on his bill, Patton said. He said he was told the meter reading is reading correctly now and the lien would be removed.

Kennedy didn't specifically address Patton's claims, but said the new meters are extremely accurate and, in most cases, someone concerned with their bill should compare their water usage to last year's bill and not last month's statement.

"It's getting hotter, and people need to take that into account," he said.

The district states that the new meters are factory calibrated and each have individual test results documenting their accuracy.

"Even if you use the same amount of water as you did before the meter was replaced, it is likely the new meter will register use more accurately and your water bill may increase as a result," it contends. "For most customers, this will be a small percentage increase, but for some it may be larger."

The district is retaining the old meters for 90 days after replacement. In limited cases, it can test old meters in the event a very large differential occurred between your previous and new bills. Any concerns regarding this testing process can be brought to the district's attention at [email protected].

The contractor is required to complete the work and return the service area to its original condition. If there is an urgent condition, call the RMWD at 760-728-1178, ext. 328.

There is a one- year contractor warranty for any work performed requiring connection to your plumbing system. This warranty extends from the point of connection up to 5 feet of your private plumbing systems. Contact the district at [email protected] or by phone with any concerns.

The RMWD also can send a leak detector to troubleshoot, Gutierrez said, if there is an issue in a grove water system, for example.

Gutierrez said the district would also work with customers to make sure their bill is correct. "They can always file a claim," he said.

 

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