Lincoln Park details water-meter replacement plan as part of effort to reduce losses and stabilize rates

Lincoln Park — City leaders outlined a program to replace aging water meters with ultrasonic devices that city staff said should help capture previously unrecorded consumption and improve billing accuracy.

Lisa, a department head speaking to the council, said the city has identified about 200 meters for immediate replacement and plans a phased mass-installation program with vendor Hydrocorp. She said the new meters read higher/closer to actual flow, which will capture more revenue that currently goes unbilled.

"When we're purchasing, say, 11,000 units of water from GLWA, we're only selling back to the customer, well, about 7,000 roughly," Lisa said, describing what she called a roughly 40% water-loss picture attributable partly to older meters, main breaks and unknown leaks.

Officials warned the revenue benefits will not be immediate. The project will take more than a year, installations will be rolled out by district, and because the city bills quarterly residents may not see reflected changes for months after installations. City staff said the meters are ultrasonic and expected to increase the volume captured on meter reads; the city will analyze early installs to identify expected revenue impacts and use those projections in upcoming budget work.

Council members asked about notification procedures; Lisa said Hydrocorp will notify households when their meters are scheduled and will offer flexible appointment times. Staff also said that some of the city's upgrades (including pump station work funded in part by ARPA) are scheduled to conclude next year and that meter upgrades are one component of a broader approach to reducing loss and stabilizing rates.

Next steps: staff will continue installations, monitor readings, report findings and incorporate revised revenue projections into the 2026–27 budget process.