City Of Tulsa To Replace Water Meters At Every Home

The City of Tulsa plans to replace the water meter at every home. The technology upgrade will cost $94 million.

It is not a complicated task to replace the meters, but there are so many of them that it's estimated the job will take four years.

Next month, the city starts replacing 145,000 water meters in yards all over Tulsa.

“The work will take around 30 minutes at each location, and we're replacing the water meter enclosure,” said Melissa Gray with the City of Tulsa. “Right now, it's a round metal can. You're going to see a new plastic box in that location.

The project led to a water meter show and tell at the City Council, as the city adopts meters that transmit readings without requiring someone to walk neighborhoods and look at each one.

“We will be able to send a meter reader driving through a neighborhood,” Gray said.

Councilors were mainly worried about disruptions for homeowners and notice that workers were coming. They were told each home would be notified two weeks before - and the day of.

This project will have the city going to every single address. They'll dig out the water meter can and replace the meter inside of it.

They’ll also inspect the service line for lead that could contaminate water in the home, but years of searching haven’t turned up many lead pipes in Tulsa.

“We've never found a full lead service line in our system,” said Gray. “We're fortunate in that.”

The city has replaced a few meters to test out the process but hopes to ramp up to 200 replacements a day by next summer.

Although the new meters cost $250 each, the city expects to save millions in labor and replacements over the expected 20-year lifespan.

Customers don't need to do anything now, but when the notice comes, the city hopes people will keep the area clear.

Workers will knock on doors before they turn the water off to do the work.