ADVANCED METERING INFRASTRUCTURE

Overview and Benefits

At Missouri American Water, we strive to constantly improve our customer experience and make our operations more efficient and cost-effective. Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) does both:

Improves customer experience:

  • Increases meter reading accuracy, including reducing the number of estimated customer bills
  • Enhances our ability to quickly detect and notify customers of costly leaks
  • Allows us to bill our customers monthly, which is more budget-friendly than quarterly billing and provides customers with the option of enrolling in our budget-billing program.

 

Improves operational efficiency:

  • Improves meter reading efficiency through more frequent collection of usage data
  • Improves employee safety
  • Reduces the number of employees required to manually read meters
  • Reduces utility truck travel and carbon emissions
  • Enhances system monitoring diagnostics that help us improve system reliability

 

How does AMI work? An AMI system uses small radio devices to periodically transmit low-power radio signals from customer water meters to receivers mounted on water tanks or utility poles. The radio signals are transmitted wirelessly over a dedicated communication channel. The technology eliminates the need for manual meter reading.

Your usage data is only used for customer billing and network monitoring. The AMI system collects hourly water usage information via secure, encrypted hardware and software. The data is secure, protected and safeguarded by Missouri American Water customer privacy practices.

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Accurate and efficient, AMI technology:

  • Lays the groundwork for better information about water usage patterns. The information will help enhance our ability to engineer and update our water system.  Ultimately, data will become available to customers to help improve their ability to manage their water usage.
  • Sustains and enhances our ability to accurately measure water usage, regardless of weather conditions.
  • Operates more efficiently, eliminating the need to visit homes and businesses to read meters.
  • Takes vehicles off the road to help reduce our community’s carbon footprint.

The AMI upgrade process

We will send letters to customers prior to upgrading their meter to AMI. The installation process takes about an hour and your home water service will not be interrupted. Our crews or contractor partners will install these meter upgrades and leave a doorhanger when the job is complete.

If your home has an indoor water meter. You will receive a letter from us asking you to call our AMI Customer Service Center to schedule an appointment for your meter upgrade. Indoor meters are typically located in basements and our contractor will need access to your home to complete the work. We appreciate your assistance in scheduling your meter upgrade and offer a range of appointment options to accommodate your schedule.

If your home has an outdoor water meter. Customers with outdoor water meters will also receive a letter prior to the meter upgrade but will not need to set an appointment. A crew member will knock on your door to let you know that the work is beginning. If no one answers, they will complete the upgrade and leave a doorhanger. The outdoor meter is located in a box, so there will be very little disruption to your yard.

If your meter is scheduled for replacement. Missouri American Water also has an ongoing program to replace residential water meters every fifteen years.  As we replace these old meters with new ones, we will also add AMI devices.  Customers with indoor water meters scheduled for replacement also receive letters from Missouri American Water asking them to set an appointment time for the replacement process.  Missouri American Water crews are available to do this work from 8:30 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. Monday through Friday and on Saturday from 8:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.

There is no direct charge to customers for this water meter upgrade. If you decide not to allow Missouri American Water to upgrade your meter to AMI, the Missouri Public Service Commission has approved a Special Meter Reading fee of $27.50 per month that will appear on your bill.

When the installation is complete

You will not notice any changes to your water service once the installation is complete. We will contact some customers by phone to check your satisfaction with the process.  Our goal is to make this transition as smooth as possible for our customers.

If you have questions about the AMI system, please email our project team at stlmeterupgrade@amwater.com. You may also contact the Missouri American Water Customer Service Center at 866-430-0820. Customer Service Representatives are available from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Monday through Friday to answer your questions.