Aquastar is an innovative, advanced meter infrastructure system that will replace monthly manual meter reads with a wireless system that collects multiple remote meter reads per day.

Watch the Aquastar video to see how the Town's new watering metering system will benefit its water customers.

Installation

The Town will replace about 57,000 residential and commercial water meters (including irrigation meters) in Cary and Morrisville with new, state-of-the-art meters. 

Find out where the Town is currently installing meters by viewing the Aquastar residential meter installation map.

Notification

A letter will be sent to customers two weeks prior to installation in their area, and door hangers will be placed at the entrance to your property no less than one to two business days prior to installation.

Installation of the new meter and transmitter should take no more than 30 minutes in most cases, with your water service being unavailable for about 15 minutes of that time.

Contractors working on the project will carry proper identification and vehicles will be marked with an Aquastar vehicle magnet.

The project is being managed for the Town by Johnson Controls of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, which will ultimately be responsible for the day-to-day execution of the project including selecting vendors and contractors, overseeing installation, and ensuring the highest level of customer satisfaction.

Meters

The new water meters will contain a transmitter that can communicate usage and data via wireless technology directly to the Town. This will improve the effectiveness of the Town’s meter reading and customer service operations while enhancing the overall quality of service to utility customers.

Thanks to its advanced technology and backup systems in the field, the new system will provide accurate, timely water use data regardless of weather conditions or power outages.

Benefits of Aquastar include:

1. Allows for better leak detection and faster response;
2. Includes a Web-based reporting system that will allow customers to track their daily water use and learn strategies for saving water and reducing their utility bill;
3. Reduces the cost of customer service operations, including special meter reads; 
4. Reduces customer service call volume, particularly related to meter readings, estimates and high bill concerns;
5. Reduces carbon emissions by taking meter readers off the road (in one year, 10 meter readers drove 71,000 miles and used 7,000 gallons of fuel); 
6. Reduces the amount of unaccounted water loss due to theft or inaccurate meters;
7. Identifies noncompliance with odd-even irrigation ordinances;
8. Increases billable revenues, accurately records consumption, and reduces unaccounted for water loss; and
9. Provides accurate, useful information for forecasting, facilities planning, rate setting, infiltration and exfiltration management. 

The total budget for the project is $17.9 million, which is being funded through the Town’s utility fund. Through operational savings and increased revenue, the project is estimated to have a benefit of $27.5 million over the 17-year project life.

Contact

Scot Berry
Town of Cary Finance Department
P.O. Box 8005
Cary, NC 27215-8005
(919) 469-4054
scot.berry@townofcary.org