Meter Maintenance
Water Meter Maintenance & Phased Replacement Programs
Upgrade your meter population at a pace that fits your utility.
HST Utility helps municipalities and water providers replace a selected portion of their meter population through planned, manageable phases. Whether you need to address a replacement backlog or establish a recurring annual program, we work with your team to define priorities, coordinate fieldwork, and document each completed installation.
A Practical Plan for Keeping Your Meters Current
Managing thousands of water meters requires personnel, funding, and consistent follow-through. Aging equipment, failed endpoints, incomplete records, and overdue replacements can add to the workload of utility crews already responsible for daily operations.
HST provides the field support needed to move that work forward. Your utility selects an approved group of meters or establishes a replacement budget, and HST organizes the agreed work into a scheduled deployment.
Programs can include residential and commercial meters. Large-diameter meters can also be evaluated separately for testing, repair, rebuilding, or replacement.
How It Works
Review Your Meter Population
We begin with your available meter inventory, account records, and operating priorities. Information such as meter age, size, manufacturer, reading technology, maintenance history, and known performance concerns helps establish the scope. If your utility already has an approved replacement list, HST can build the deployment around it. Field verification can be included when records need to be confirmed or updated.
Prioritize the Meters That Need Attention
HST works with your team to organize an approved work list. Priorities may include aging equipment approaching the utility's planned replacement interval, stopped meters and failed endpoints, accounts requiring repeated field visits, meters with documented accuracy concerns, equipment that no longer supports the utility's metering strategy, commercial meters requiring further testing or evaluation, and routes or geographic areas that can be completed efficiently together. Age alone does not establish that a meter is inaccurate — testing and performance information can help determine whether maintenance, repair, or replacement is appropriate.
Establish the Budget and Schedule
Define a program around a fixed quantity, selected routes, an approved account list, or an annual budget. HST coordinates the deployment schedule with your utility based on the agreed scope, material availability, and operating requirements. Work can be organized as a single project or recurring scheduled visits. Before deployment, we establish responsibilities for meter supply, customer communications, installation, documentation, and locations requiring additional work.
Coordinate and Complete the Fieldwork
HST coordinates installation activities with your utility and provides customer notification and appointment support as included in the program. Crews verify the account and existing equipment, document the removal, install the approved replacement, and complete required installation checks. When endpoint work is included, programming and communication verification requirements are established in the scope. Inaccessible meters, inoperable shutoffs, deteriorated plumbing, and other conditions preventing a standard replacement are documented and referred for an approved resolution.
Document and Review Each Installation
Program records can include account and service location, old and new meter serial numbers, removal and installation readings, endpoint identification when applicable, GPS coordinates and photographs, completion dates and field notes, and exceptions requiring follow-up. HST performs daily quality-control review and provides completion records in the agreed format. Data transfer and any integration with billing, GIS, or work-order systems are established during program setup.
Plan the Next Phase
At the end of each phase, HST reviews completed work, unresolved locations, and field findings with your team. This information helps refine the next replacement list and identify additional maintenance needs. A recurring program provides a practical way to reduce backlogs, improve asset records, and plan future work.
Illustrative example — not an actual HST project or a universal replacement recommendation
What Could a Phased Program Look Like?
A utility with 20,000 meters might begin with an approved phase of 2,000 replacements. HST coordinates the selected accounts, completes the agreed installations, documents exceptions, and provides completion records. Future phases can increase or decrease based on available funding, meter performance, and remaining priorities.
20,000
Total meter population
2,000
Initial replacement phase
10%
Initial portion addressed
At a constant pace of 2,000 replacements per year, the original 20,000-meter population would be addressed over ten years, assuming no system growth. Actual replacement intervals should reflect meter condition, technology, testing, and utility policy.
Built Around Your Utility's Priorities
Annual Replacement Programs
Schedule an approved quantity of meter replacements during each budget year.
Targeted Backlog Reduction
Bring in HST to address overdue replacements, failed equipment, or a defined list of unresolved accounts.
Route-Based Upgrades
Organize replacements by service area or meter-reading route to coordinate field activities.
Commercial and Large Meter Support
Include testing, repair, rebuilding, or replacement based on the approved scope and site requirements.
Meter and Endpoint Upgrades
Coordinate compatible meter, register, or endpoint changes that support your utility's approved AMR or AMI strategy.
Keep Your Meter Program Moving Forward
Ready to Start Planning?
Tell us about your meter population and replacement goals. We'll work with your team to define a program that fits your budget and schedule.