In hopes of limiting possible confusion among customers, the City of Georgetown is putting the word out that it has hired Putt Bro’s Meter and Hydrant to provide contract technicians who will assist with manual meter readings. While usage most water and electric meters can be read with the utility’s automated system, in some cases, meters must be read manually with a technician in the field, the city said.
The number of meters that must be read manually, or estimated based on past usage, was about 2,700 meters in November on a system with about 65,000 meters.
Numbers shared by the City of Georgetown shows between 100 – 150 new module failures a month, which is similar to other water utilities. Supply chain shortages have reportedly impacted the city’s ability to replace those failed components on a timely basis, thus manual meter usage reads are needed.
Customers may see a Putt Bro’s employee in their neighborhood reading meters, especially for City water customers in areas west and north of Georgetown. Putt Bro’s technicians wear vests and have vehicles indicating they are City of Georgetown contractors.
“Adding contract staff to our Customer Service meter reading team allows us to get monthly meter reads for more of our customers and reduce the need to use estimates,” Customer Care Director Leticia Zavala said.
