Lake Zurich to pay $3.5 million to upgrade water meters

The Lake Zurich village board unanimously passed a $3.5 million plan Monday to upgrade nearly every water meter in the village to better track usage and more accurately bill residents.

Under the plan, the village will upgrade about 6,600 meters in the next 12 to 14 months, said Michael Duebner, the Lake Zurich's innovation director. Duebner said the village will begin contacting residents to schedule their water meter upgrade appointment soon.

"The first (meters) should be rolling out in the next 30 days," Duebner said. "We'll be sending letters out in the mail, enhancing our website to roll out the campaign."

The village expects to recoup its $3.5 million investment through more accurate billing.

Many of the older analog meters in place have trouble keeping track of water usage, particularly when it flows slowly. The new meters, called "magnetic technology meters," are able to read all water flowing through the pipes without relying on spinning gauges.

The village tested the new meters through a pilot program this summer, when they installed in about 79 homes - including the homes of all village trustees.

Before the vote Monday, resident Martin Filson said he opposed the plan. Filson said rather than pay to replace meters villagewide, officials should identify the worst meters and only replace them.

Trustee Marc Spacone said he would rather they all be replaced at once. Even though the analog meter in his house was installed in the last few years, it didn't capture his family's water usage as accurately as the new meter did, he said.

Spacone said the cost of his water bill went up after the new meter was installed.

"This is an investment in our infrastructure," he added. "We need to do this to record this data accurately."

The village board also passed a measure to increase the penalty for anyone who tampers with a water meter.

Duebner said village workers during the pilot program came across a house where the water meter had been removed, left on the ground and replaced by a regular pipe.

At that time, the village had no means to penalize that homeowner. The new measure allows the village to impose a $750 fine.