Installation will begin in early 2020 (Late January/Early February 2020).  The installations will be staggered throughout the community over several months.  The Village will provide further communications in the coming months regarding scheduling appointments for your new meter.

Water meters across the Village have approached the American Water Works Association’s recommended lifecycle.  As the current mechanical water meters age, they may slow down and their accuracy in registering water consumption decreases.   The planned water meter modernization will replace all water meters in the Village to achieve both technological and customer service benefits.

As an additional benefit, the new meters can provide leak alerts, allowing customers to avoid possibly extensive water charges due to their leaking plumbing, faucets, or toilet fixtures.

The Village has awarded a contract to Siemens Industry, Inc. to perform this meter upgrade. The installer will need to access your home to replace the meter.  Siemens will reach out and work with residents and businesses to arrange a convenient appointment time to complete this task.

Yes. Due to freezing temperatures in the winter, all meters are installed within the home or business. Most homes have a device for remote reading access on the outside of the home that will also be changed as part of this project.

The water rate you pay will not change as part of this project—the rate charged for water is the same, regardless of the type of water meter being used. As always, your bill can increase or decrease depending on how much water you actually use.

The new water meters will allow customers to be billed for actual water used during each billing cycle instead of being billed in 1,000 gallon increments, as with the current system. Each billing cycle, you will be billed for the water you used during the billing cycle.

To illustrate this change, we have provided an example in the image below (Please note we’ve used round numbers to simplify this explanation, your actual bill will show consumption down to the individual gallon).

The technology of the old water meter devices could only report water consumption for every 1,000 gallons. This means if you consumed 4,700 gallons in one billing period, you would only be billed for 4,000 gallons.  The remaining 700 gallons of unreported consumption would roll forward into the next billing cycle. If in the next billing cycle you consumed 4,900 gallons of water you would be charged for 5,000 gallons.

The new water meters will read to the exact gallon. As shown in the example image above, the new water meter would show consumption of 4,700 gallons in the first month and generate a bill for the full amount.  In the second month, it would again generate a bill for the actual amount of water consumed—4,900 gallons. The rate charged for water is the same, regardless of the type of water meter, and in the end, both meters will bill for the 9,600 gallons used over the two billing cycles.

On your first digitally read water bill, you may notice a slight bump in the reported water consumption, because in addition to being billed for actual usage for the first billing cycle, you will also be billed for any unreported consumption from the prior billing period.

Since the technology of the old water meter devices could only report water consumption for every 1,000 gallons, any amount over would be unreported consumption that would roll forward into the next billing cycle.  (e.g. if you consumed 4,700 gallons in one billing period, you would only be billed for 4,000 gallons, and the remaining 700 gallons would be the unreported consumption).

The maximum impact from unreported consumption would be 999 gallons, or $11.99, and this will only affect the first water bill using your new meter.  Aside from this one-time impact, moving forward your water bill will reflect the actual amount used during the billing period. 

Additionally, the billing period following your water meter upgrade may include up to two additional weeks of water use depending on the timing of the installation (See Figure 1.1 of Notice Regarding Your Water Meter Upgrade). The longer service period may result in an additional 25% of water consumption compared to previous cycles. The next billing period stabilizes at the normal 2-month billing cycle.

Aside from potential increases in water use due to a drier summer season, spending more time at home or other household needs, the combined effect of the two factors mentioned above may result in a one-time increase of up to 40% for the average household.

As part of the water meter upgrade, our systems are limited to show a date range for when water consumption began using the new meter (See Figure 1.2 of Notice Regarding Your Water Meter Upgrade). The next bill will show a service date range to match the service days. The variance in service days will no longer continue after receiving the upgrade.

Your first digitally read water bill will show two lines to distinguish gallons consumed using the old meter versus the new meter (See Figure 1.3 of Notice Regarding Your Water Meter Upgrade). The charge on your bill takes into account the combined amount of gallons on both lines. The total water charge is capable of showing on the first line only. The next water bill will return to showing total gallons of water consumption on one line.

Additionally, water consumption from the new water meter only will be shown on the “current bar” on the chart. Due to software limitations, usage from your old water meter during this billing period is not reflected on the chart.  The chart will return to showing complete water use for your next billing period (See Figure 1.4 of Notice Regarding Your Water Meter Upgrade).

For further assistance specific to your water bill, Utility Billing staff is available to answer questions by calling 847-357-4060.

The meter pictured below reports 475 gallons to the Finance Department, although the actual consumption is 475.35 gallons. Your new water meter will read down to the hundredth of a gallon on the register.

Additionally, your new water meter has an alarm indicator that will display a (+) symbol if a leak is present.

According to the FDA and the World Health Organization (WHO), among other organizations, to date, the weight of scientific evidence has not effectively linked exposure to radio frequency energy from mobile devices with any known health problems.

For more information, please click here to read about automatic metering infrastructure and radio frequencies.