New water meters may mean consumers pay more

It has received a lot of play on the morning radio talk shows and in letters to the newspapers. But today, instead of complaining about the new water meter, I decided to ask Belize Water Services just what’s going on.

Jacqueline Woods, Reporting

A study of existing water meters has prompted the utility company to replace the old devices with a newer model.

Roy Tombs, Operations Manager, B.W.S.L.

“Belize Water Services, like any water company, has to make sure that water meters are running accurately. We had look at Belize, all the meters–that’s thirty-seven thousand meter–and we realize that many of them are very old and therefore we are investing in changing around ten thousand meters this year and planning to carry out another twenty thousand in the next three to four years, so that we can make sure that when we bill a customer, the actual bill is as accurate as possible.”

According to B.W.S.L.’s Operations Manager, Roy Tombs, contrary to some consumer complaints of overly high meter readings, the real situation is that the existing meters are reading too low.

Roy Tombs

“We want to give customers a fair deal. What we are experiencing at the moment is a lot of under registration. This means that meter that are in the ground, a lot of them very old, some of them imperial gallon meter. And when we bill them, the actual customer is getting a bill which is lower.”

Tombs says the new device, which is used worldwide, not only addresses the problem of tampering and illegal connection, but it accurately reads the amount of water that a household uses. This is the reason why some customers may find themselves paying a little bit more than was recorded on their previous bill. However, no matter how fool proof the new system promises to be, B.W.S.L. advises customers to check their meters on a regular basis.

Roy Tombs

“When we do a meter change with a customer, we actually give them a letter explaining what we are doing, explaining to them to make sure they keep a careful watch on their meter to ensure that their bills is not going very, very high. And we also give them a certificate of the meter to prove that it has been properly tested.”

“I would recommend in all cases that customers monitor their meter, whether we change them or not. It’s always beneficial, just in case they get a leak and get a high bill anyway.”

The installation started in March and the first phase of the work should be finished by the end of the year. At that time, over three thousand of the new meters will be in place.

Since purchasing majority interest in the water company from government, B.W.S.L. has been trying to cut down on leaks, theft of service, and now, inaccurate metering.