Fort Worth using digital meters to track who's violating water restrictions
FORT WORTH (CBSDFW.COM) — Fort Worth is using its new digital water meters during the ongoing drought to figure out who is likely trying to keep their grass green on days when they're not supposed to.
The first batch of 6,000 postcards went out last week, telling home and business owners data showed they may be in violation of the city's rule against watering their yards on a Monday. It's just an informational notice, not a warning that could eventually lead to a fine or a water shut off.
Fort Worth has had permanent water restrictions in place since 2014. Properties are assigned two days a week when landscape watering is allowed, and never on Mondays.
In the past, the city relied on complaints to identify people not following the rules, but new digital water meters installed city wide means the city doesn't have to wait for someone to call.
The meters send water data back wirelessly. Customers can now monitor their daily and hourly water use through an app, alerting them to high usage rates or leaks.
The city though is also able to see high use rates at times when it doesn't add up. Rates of 300-gallons per hour on a Monday, indicated someone probably had the sprinklers on, triggering a notice.
"The carrot rather than the stick has always been our approach, to trying to get compliance," said Mary Gugliuzza, a spokesperson for the water department. "And that's all were trying to do, is target it."
She said it's similar to notices sent out to customers when data shows around the clock water use, a sign of a possible leak.
One of the notices showed up in the mailbox at David May's house on the south side of the city. He put in new sod in May, and had been watering daily through June.
Over the last few weeks, he was running sprinklers for his shrubs and flower beds every night for 10 minutes, trying to keep them alive in the 100º heat. Since he got the card though, the system is now shut off on Mondays.
"To me, they're threatening with a fine," he said.
Fines can range up to $2,000, but would first require an official warning according to the ordinance. Someone would likely still need to see the violation, Gugliuzza said, in order to write a citation, but the data could potentially be used to direct staff where to monitor.
The situation is not to that point yet, she said. It's possible if water levels reach Stage 1 drought conditions in September, the informational cards could be expanded to properties that appear to be watering on the wrong days, which are based on odd or even addresses.
