Atlanta identifies antenna problem with water meters

By Ernie Suggs

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Up to 30,000 water meters in Atlanta could have been installed wrong, making it almost impossible to read them efficiently, a city official said Tuesday.

Jim Beard, deputy commissioner and chief financial officer of Atlanta’s Department of Watershed Management, said a sampling of 9,193 of the city’s 127,000 water meters revealed the antennas in 25 percent of them were installed upside down in the meter box instead of on top on the lid.

Beard said the system is designed to allow meter readers to receive radio signals on the mobile data collectors or hand-held units up to two miles away from the meter.

With the antennas upside down, Beard said, the range is drastically reduced, which has forced meter readers to stand directly over the meter box to get a reading.

“This is not an operational issue affecting the functionality of the meter,” Beard said. “What it does is affect the meter reading process. This is not a billing issue.”

But that does not soothe the hundreds of Atlanta residents who have been hit with high water bills. For nearly a year now, Atlantans have complained about unexpected spikes in their bills, which in some cases have gone from under $100 a month to hundreds and even thousands of dollars.

Buckhead resident Bill Lucas, one of the most outspoken critics of the high water bills, said the city is being dishonest in its claim that the antennas do not contribute to the billing issues.

“It is preposterous for the city to say that the problem with the antenna is not relevant; it is relevant,” Lucas said. “If the antenna is not working, you are not going to get an accurate reading. This is a plausible explanation.”

Councilwoman Natalyn Archibong, who chairs the city utilities committee, also is skeptical of the claim the antenna issue is unrelated to the billing problems. The watershed department is in the process of drafting a full report and audit, she said.

"I am not pursuaded," Archibong said. "In my mind the number of complaints and the need to correct the antenna problem is related to the bills. I would be surprised if they were not related."

Beard, who joined the watershed department last September, said before the new leadership team was in place somebody within the department allowed the contractor to install the meters incorrectly.

“Somebody allowed them to short-cut,” Beard said. “The department of watershed knew about it.”

Beard said he doesn’t know how much it would cost to fix the improperly installed meters.