Meter Pit Program Offers Middlesex Water Customers Convenience and Safety
June 25 2019 - 9:48AM
Middlesex Water Company is installing exterior meter pit enclosures
in its service area as part of a multi-year program to meet
regulatory requirements and offer customers added convenience and
safety.
The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities requires residential
meters be replaced and tested on a recurring schedule, typically
ten years for most residential customers. However gaining access to
homes to perform these change outs throughout its 780-mile system
has become a challenge for the Company, thus the decision to
relocate meters to the exterior of the home. As the Company
performs water main construction or encounters meter access issues,
it is systematically prioritizing those meters for replacement.
Meter relocation is typically a two-step process involving the
installation of an exterior meter pit first and then following
later with the relocation of the interior meter to the outdoor,
company-owned meter pit. The actual meter relocation will
occur depending on meter age and where it falls in the 10-year
change out schedule. This could be immediately after the pit is
installed or even weeks, months or years later.
Meter Relocation offers Customer Benefits
- Convenience - Customers will no longer need to
be at home waiting for a technician to remove the interior meter
because no access is needed to the home.
- Safety - Eliminating in-home visits reduces
the potential for imposters to pose as water company personnel
trying to gain access to your home.
- Protection - A leaking meter, though
infrequent, can damage your home’s interior and basement.
Moving these meters outdoors eliminates the risk of damage caused
by a leaking meter.
- Maintenance - Maintenance of the meter
environment when located in the home, and providing meter access to
MWC service personnel is the customer’s responsibility. Once
relocated to an exterior pit, meter maintenance is the company’s
responsibility.
- Efficiency - Meter pits allows quicker and
easier access by company personnel, which is especially important
in emergencies.
“Installing the exterior meter pits as we are performing water
main work in the same area is an efficient way to approach this
initiative, said Brian Carr, Middlesex Water Director of
Engineering. “The actual meter relocation from indoors to outdoors
takes only a few minutes and can be accomplished when the meter
reaches the end of its useful life,” he added.
Customers of affected premises will receive advance notice of
scheduled meter work and relocation. All meter relocation
work will be performed by Middlesex Water personnel or its
contractors at no cost to customers. The location of the
meter pit, typically in the planter area (between the curb and
sidewalk) or in the sidewalk is based on field conditions such as
buried underground utilities or available space. Following
the installation of an exterior meter pit, Middlesex will perform
temporary restoration, followed by more complete restoration within
one to three months, weather permitting.
This program is one of several under the Company’s Water for
Tomorrow® initiative designed to strengthen the water system
infrastructure to help ensure greater reliability, safety and
resiliency.
About Middlesex Water
Middlesex Water Company, (NASDAQ:MSEX) established in 1897
provides regulated and unregulated water and wastewater utility
services in New Jersey, Delaware and Pennsylvania through various
subsidiary companies.
Contact: Bernadette Sohler, Vice
President – Corporate AffairsMiddlesex Water Company (732)
638-7549 www.middlesexwater.com
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