More frequent meter readings can change the relationship between a water utility and its customers. For Denver Water, the opportunity is to turn consumption information into earlier leak identification, practical conservation and a more useful customer service. Its planned metering transition puts the connection between information and action at the centre of the investment decision.
Denver Water currently collects radio-based automatic meter readings through monthly vehicle-based collection. The proposed cellular system would send readings to the cloud more frequently, helping identify water-use trends and possible leaks. Delivering that capability brings equipment, communications and customer support into the same program.
A possible leak shows how the service needs to work. An unusual pattern prompts investigation; a clear alert helps the customer understand the problem and respond. The value comes from carrying useful information through that entire chain, from the reading to the action it enables.
The same connection matters for conservation. Households need to understand their consumption and have a practical way to change it. Tariffs, household circumstances and the utility’s resource-management objectives all shape the response. Customer information becomes more valuable when those relationships are built into the service.
Denver Water already connects information with physical intervention through its lead service-line planning model, using location and exposure risk to prioritise work. The metering opportunity extends that practical question into everyday consumption: how can better information help customers and operational teams make better decisions?
The full Water Utility of the Future report places planned metering within Denver Water’s wider operating model. It examines the connections between digital capability, customer demand and implementation, giving decision-makers a clearer view of how a technology program can become a useful service.