Smartphone app can monitor water

RIDGELAND — All city of Ridgeland water customers can monitor their water usage and detect possible leaks using their smartphone after a four- year project to upgrade the city’s water meters is complete.

Customers can monitor their data through EyeOnWater, a free tool customers can access through a browser or smartphone app, Public Works Director Alan Hart said.

“The EyeOnWater App is very helpful in helping water customers understand their water usage and make their own water conservation decisions,” Hart said. “The App can save hundreds to thousands of dollars by receiving alerts within 24 hours of a leak if the customer choses to utilize the leak alert feature.”

Hart said the tool has been available since they started upgrading meters to transmit cellular data in 2022. 

“EyeOnWater was working from day one; however, the functionality would only work as our crews and contractor installed the new hardware on the meter or replaced the meter with the new technology,” Hart said. “ At this point, every meter that we have in the City that is going to be converted has been converted.”

Hart said just under 10,000 water meter connections in the city were upgraded.

The replacement effort began planning in 2021 and included a funding plan to utilize federal ARPA funds. The final budget for the project was $4,192,607. This utilized  $1,687,294 in ARPA Funds and $1,687,294 in MCWI Funds. The remainder were local PURF Funds, Hart said.

The city began acquiring materials in mid-2022 for the project, Hart said. The beginning rollout was slow as most of the materials for the project were back ordered by six months, Hart said.

Hart said by April of 2023, the city had successfully secured matching MCWI Federal Funding to fund the remaining retrofit and replacement project to convert every meter under the city’s control to cellular communication. 

At the regular meeting of the Mayor and Board of Aldermen on Tuesday, March 4, city officials authorized Mayor Gene F. McGee to sign closeout documents for the project unanimously on the consent agenda.

Go to ridgelandms.org/eyeonwater for more information.