IVINS — As local cities look at ways to conserve water, Ivins is considering using the same technology behind cellular phone service to potentially save water.

The city’s public works department has approached the city council with converting all residential and business water meters in the city from what are now digital meters that provide a reading of an address’ water consumption once per month to a wireless meter that would provide daily readings. 

Ivins Public Works Director Chuck Gillette said in a presentation to the Ivins City Council on Nov. 17 that the water savings would come from residents knowing almost immediately that they had a water leak, as opposed to finding out up to 30 days later. 

“We had people who came to us didn’t know they had a leak,” Gillette said. “This can give people immediate feedback that they may have a water leak.”

One example Gillette provided involved a resident who ended up with a $5,000 water bill after using around “a million” gallons of water in a month because they were unaware of a leak. Gillette said a daily system would allow the city to detect an anomaly within 24 hours and alert the customer. 

Ivins City Councilman Mike Scott expressed support for the “smarter” meters, saying it has been brought up in meetings he has had with Zach Renstrom, the general manager of the Washington County Water Conservancy District. Scott compared it with other measures that cities, including Ivins, have used in Utah and the rest of the dry West including grass removal and replacement. 

“I asked what is the best bang for the buck solution we can have and he mentioned wireless water meters,” Scott said. “I asked (Renstrom) what is the benefit between that versus turf replacement and he said the cost of that is 25 cents per gallon saved. With an AMI system, the cost per gallon is three cents. AMI is the low-hanging fruit on conservation.”

The system, called automated metering infrastructure (AMI), would add water meters with a wireless component similar to that used in cell phones. While officials say it wouldn’t provide real-time readings but would provide a once-a-day reading to the city. Through a web portal, residents also would be able to check their own daily water usage online. 

To read the devices, five 45-foot cell towers would be erected in the city, Gillette said. 

Currently, Ivins utilizes a different kind of “smart” water meter called automated meter reading (AMR). Those meters also have a radio transmitter, but it can only be read through a device used by a city worker either waking or driving by. With only so many workers, at best that is a reading done once a month. 

Opponents of cellular water meters in other cities have cited what they said is a health risk from radiofrequency waves. 

According to the National Cancer Institute, hundreds of studies have been conducted on the health effects of radiofrequency radiation and none have found conclusive evidence such radiation has caused cancer or other harmful health effects. The makers of AMI water meters say they don’t give off any more radio waves than the cell phones, smart devices, wireless televisions or computers that are already in most households.

But another Ivins Council member sees a different problem with switching to cellular AMI water meters: The pricetag. 

The city’s public works department estimates it would cost $1,032,030 to fully implement the system.

“It’s expensive and the reason we monitor water is to charge,” Ivins Council member Dennis Mehr said. “Unless we’re going to be charging daily …but we’re charging monthly. A million dollars is a lot to spend.”

But the city’s director of finance, Cade Visser, said ultimately, alerting residents earlier to possible water leaks will not only save gallons of water but save residents some heartache on their water bill. 

“One of the calls we get a lot is my water bill seems high,” Visser said. “So if there is a benefit residents can get, this is it.”

Ivins wouldn’t be the first local city to utilize an AMI water meter system. Washington City already has one.

Citing that, Ivins Council members on Nov. 17 tabled any consideration to approve funds for a new water meter system while the city monitors its implementation in Washington City as well as potentially planning a public hearing on the subject.

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