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Andrea R.H. Putz Irene Schild Caminer

City of Chicago Department of Water ManagementThomas H. Powers, P.E., Commissioner

A Novel Approach to Conservation & Water Meters in Chicago: MeterSave

Current Metering Status Metered accounts:

180,873 accounts High-usage – industrial, commercial, suburban 80% of water revenue Flat rate of $2.01 / 1,000 gallons for all

customers Technology being upgraded to Automatic Meter

Reading (AMR)

Non-metered accounts: 316,881 accounts Low-usage - single family homes, 2-flats 20% of water revenue Based on the lot size, # of fixtures, etc.

Chicago Metering History

VMIP (2003)

AMR (2007)

New Constr. (1984)

Geographic Deployment (2013)

voluntary MeterSave

program (2009)

MeteringPrograms

Metering Challenges Geographic Manual meter reading Historical myth Aging infrastructure

Conservation Challenges Big blue lake! Carrot but no stick

Solution Phase 1: Change the Mindset Phase 2: Tackle Remaining

Chicago has proposals for universal metering dating to 1900!

Purpose of Project Create a program to meter residential accounts that

will Change the mindset regarding water meters Get as many people metered as possible Encourage water conservation

Options considered Meter upon property transfer (FPC)

Burdensome for real estate industry Difficult to get buy-in from City Council Installation scheduling & location challenges

Mandatory, geographic-based (block by block) Almost impossible to get buy-in from City Council Home owners won’t be home during the day, won’t let us in

Voluntary Easy pass through City Council but hard to get enough volunteers

A novel, hybrid approach Voluntary – customer friendly Incentive-based

Financial: 7-year guarantee that metered bill will not exceed what the assessed billing rate would have been

Conservation: Choice of water conservation tool: indoor kit, outdoor kit, rain barrel, or meter monitor

Information: Get an AMR meter w/leak detection, profile

Geographic-based Scheduling is done on a ward by ward basis – efficient

Participants must pay bills on time Guarantee does not transfer to new property owners

Limited to first 20,000 volunteers annually

Decision: MeterSave

Benefits of MeterSave

Reduced bill: Based on results in other large cities, the avg. customer’s bill will by 17-33%

Currently the data we have is showing more than 50% savings

Equity for customer: Water bill is based on actual usage – use less, pay less

Done at no cost to the customer: meter and installation free of charge & offer a water saving incentive 4

Frequent, smaller bill: Metered bill is sent every 2 months — that means a smaller bill on a regular basis — easier to budget

to the customer

System efficiency: Easier identification of leaks within the distribution system

System accountability: How much water is actually pumped & consumed - in keeping with the Mayor’s Water Agenda

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Benefits of MeterSaveto the City of Chicago

Reduce wasted water: Chicago & NE IL could face a severe water shortage by 2050 if we fail to plan for the future (Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning, July ’08)

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Water Conserved (MGD)

So what is the message? Water meters will

help make homeowners more conscious of water usage ensure the long-term sustainability of our water infrastructure

& our continued access to a clean water supply

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30 MGD = 300,000 addt’l customers

How do we market the message?

Two main population segments:

Save water, “green” people

Save money people Marketing provided the

framework for IT and Operational changes

Make volunteering, scheduling and installation easy, minimally disruptive & user friendly

Barebones budget 20,000 limit annually –

can’t be too successful!

How can customers request a meter?

311 Call

Center

MeterSave.org website

Automated Phone System

Website allows for scheduling of water meter installation!

Technology Initiatives Achieved in an Accelerated Time-Frame

Enrollment in MeterSave By phone to a person (3-1-1 and Customer Service

Reps) By phone to a computer (updated entire IVR phone

tree) By website with email confirmation (Novel)

Scheduling Meter Installation Neighborhood by Neighborhood By phone with a person By phone with automated alert system By website

Technology Initiatives Achieved in an Accelerated Time-Frame (cont’d)

Installation of AMR Meter Paper-heavy workorders Automated, paperless system Interface between work order system and billing & collection

system Handheld devices for installers Real-time upload to systems Alternative installation methods—compression & crimp fittings Photos of installers on website

Billing for Water Usage New bill format Tracks annual cap – part of 7-year guarantee

Post-Installation QA/QC Post-Cards Testimonials on website

Testimonials by Neighborhood on the website

Marketing:Effect of Non-Metered Bill Advertising

Blue lines indicate timing of non-metered bill mailings

(sent 2 x per year)

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3/13/2009 6/21/2009 9/29/2009 1/7/2010 4/17/2010 7/26/2010 11/3/2010

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radio advertising

waiting list converts to eligible list

non-metered bills start to go out

Sun Times articles

2010 CCR

avg = 14 volunteers/day

Citywide email

Marketing:Neighborhood Ambassador

Conclusions The word is spreading!

Almost 10,000 volunteers to date People are saving money!

Avg. savings is over 50% to date People are saving water!

Customers say they pay more attention to their water use Effect of the economy

people are looking for ways to save money however, no $ for a professional marketing campaign

Huge IT and Operational changes were needed to make the process fast & effective

Over 4,500 meters installed so far; goal for 2011 is 7,000 more!

Work culture change - paperless, automated, website driven

Questions & Answers

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