By Tabitha Evans Moore | EDITOR & PUBLSIHER

LYNCHBURG, Tenn. — At Tuesday night’s Metro Utility Department (MUD) Board meeting, the five-member board elected to take the next step of a project to replace all Zenner water meters inside the local system with Kamstrup meters at an estimated cost of a little over $1.4 million dollars. It is the second time in less than five years that meters have been replaced.

The Board voted unanimously to take the next step, which is to publish notices for bids in local newspapers and state websites.

Despite the bidding process – which is required by the State of Tennessee for any projects that cost over $25,000 – the winning bid will likely come from Nashville-based Core & Main since they are the exclusive provider of Kamstrup water meters in the state.

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Why are the meters being replaced?

To give a little background, the Metro Utilities Department elected to switch to current Zenner meters in 2020. Approved in June of that year, meter replacement began in October of the same year. At the time, they were chasing non-revenue water usage or water loss that been happening for the past several years.

That project required a contract with Government Capitol for the funding of the project. It included the replacement of 2,500 meters in the local system. The cost of that project was $765,000.

But the water loss continued, so in January 2025, the Board began investigating the cost of transitioning the entire system from Zenner meters to Kamstrup meters.

One need not look far on the Internet to see that several municipalities across the nation have recently experienced similar issues with Zenner meters. From Florida to California, public utilities have complaints from battery issues, trouble code issues, and signal issues.

What is water loss?

So, what exactly is water loss? It refers to water that the local system pays for and treats but isn’t billed due to either a physical leak, a faulty meter, a billing error, or unauthorized consumption. In essence, it represents lost revenue, and it’s something the Tennessee Comptroller’s office keeps a close eye on.

According to information provided by MUD, the average water loss for 2024 was around 44 percent. Assuming MUD uses an average of 25 million gallons a month, a 44 percent water loss would represent thousands of dollars each month.

Since state law requires that all public utilities be financially self-sufficient and that its rates and fees reflect actual costs, water loss can resuls in higher rates for citizens. 

Why the move to Kamstrup meters?

Wholesale replacement is the final step and one that the Board attempted to avoid. In March 2024, the MUD Board approved a $60,000 contract with E Source Water Loss Consulting to digitally audit the Zenner meters. At the time, MUD reported a water loss between 45-61 percent.

Then in July 2024, as water loss continued, the MUD Board voted to aggressively start replacing the Zenner meters, according to the meeting minutes. It was included in the FY2024 budget as a capital improvement plan with a $90,000 line item. The intent was to replace all suspected faulty Zenner meters in the system within a four-year period.

Then in April of 2024, MUD ran a test program with 30 Kamstrup meters in the system. Based on those tests as well as opinions from both their engineer and industry experts, they began to begrudgingly look at a wholesale replacement of all Zenner meters with Kamstrup meters.

In March, representatives of Core & Main attended the MUD Board meeting to explain the features and benefits of the Kamstrup meters.

Kamstrup meters use AMI technology. Their water meter is a smart water meter that uses radio-based technology to transmit water usage data to the utility company, enabling remote meter readings and providing customers with more detailed and real-time water usage information. 

The theory is that real-time data transmission will help discover leaks more quickly. The new meters also detect low flow usage, which the previous meters cannot detect. They use ultrasonic technology that “listens” for water leaks that can pinpoint the location more quickly.

“You don’t always see water in the ditch,” Kevin Winter of Core & Main told the Board in March. “You don’t always see water squirting out the sidewalks. And it can be as significant. And that’s where the acoustic leak detection comes in to help you find those.”

The local system will still need to utilize a hybrid AMI/AMR system in spots because the wireless technology won’t work in Charity community where Internet and Cellular are sparse. MUD techs will still need to execute drive-by readings of those 26 meters once a month

Spending money to recover money

Despite the switch, the Zenner contract remains in place and will need to be paid in addition to the cost of the new Kamstrup meter contract through Core & Main.

MUD officials hope the project will eventually pay for itself through water loss recovery.

That’s what happened at the Milcrofton Utility District located outside Franklin in 2018, according to Winter. They replaced all 11,000 water meters in the system. In the first three years after the Kamstrup switch, revenue grew by $1.6 million – allowing them to immediately recoup over 50 percent of the total project cost. {To read a case study of that project, click here.}

They also hope the voluntary move will help keep them off the state’s radar. Excessive Water Loss in Tennessee has been defined as any system with non-revenue water above 40 percent, in accordance with Tennessee Code Annotated § 7-82-702. Sustained water losses over 40 percent could result in a state takeover of the local system.

MUD Board meetings take place on the second Tuesday of each month. The next one will take place on May 13 at 6 p.m. at the MUD offices located at 705 Fayetteville Highway. If you’d like to appear before them to express your support or concerns about the project, contact them prior to the meeting to be added to the public comments portion of the agenda at 931-759-4297. •

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