A recent city audit revealed that the city of San Diego’s plan for replacing all water meters is over two years behind schedule and millions of dollars over budget.
The city has long wanted to replace a quarter-million meters with new “smart water meters.” In 2017 alone, the city sent customers over 2,750 incorrect bills. At one point, over 10,000 customers’ bills were affected. Ostensibly, this new technology would boost billing accuracy, provide real-time data on water use, and eliminate the need for city employees to go to homes and offices across the city to read each meter.
However, a potentially good idea may not necessarily be executed in an efficient way. City officials have consistently underestimated the scale, length, and cost of the project. When a private contractor said $60 million was enough to complete the project, the city decided that it could do the job of replacing every single water meter—with radio transmitters on each—setting up a data-collecting system, and developing a program that would send a quarter-million bills.
But without qualified staff, city workers not only failed to match the intended pace of their plan, but also had trouble fixing meter boxes and actively worked to prevent audits. In an effort to cover up their failures, lower-level staffers were thrown under the bus.
Turnover is high because employees are significantly underpaid compared to neighboring cities, a systemic problem within the city government. Due to the city’s poor planning, there are still 165,824 meters left to install.
Photo by Colin Watts
