Arlington Water Utilities has been awarded a $300,000 federal grant that will help improve the City''s leak-detection capabilities and generate cost-savings related to water treatment, pumping and meter reading.
The WaterSMART matching grant was awarded by the Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation. The financial assistance is available for cities that seek to conserve and use water more efficiently.
Water Utilities officials said the federal funding will allow the City to expedite the Advanced Metering Infrastructure plan, which was first presented to City Council in June 2013. About 40,000 smart meters have been installed in the first two years of the 10-year project to replace 108,000 meters.
Arlington''s WaterSMART program, which includes leak detection, smart metering and customer conservation education, will include a public awareness campaign and customer portal system upgrades in addition to the deployment of 21,000 smart meters. A city-wide leak detection project is also included in the scope to reduce water loss from distribution.
Through the improvements, the City of Arlington anticipates that it will conserve 10.08 percent of its water supply, about 2 billion gallons of water a year. It will reduce electricity consumption through reduced water pumping and treatment, as well as greenhouse gases by reducing vehicle miles for metering reading and associated activities.
The $4.1 million project, expected to begin this October, should take about two years to complete, Water Utilities officials said.
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