Case Study

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Once an agricultural area that supplied hops, rye, fruits, vegetables, and other goods to Boston twelve miles away, Burlington, Massachusetts has evolved to become part of the state's technology corridor. Located in the northeastern portion of the state and home to the 270-acre Landlocked Forest, the town of 24,000 is governed by a five-member Board of Selectmen as well as more than 100 representatives of the Town Meeting.

The Town of Burlington's Department of Public Works services approximately 8,500 water accounts, including 6,800 residential, 880 commercial, 750 "second meter" (irrigation), and 50 municipal customers. According to John G. Sanchez, DPW Superintendent, the water division had already started looking to recapture lost revenue when he joined the department nearly five years ago. "They'd discussed the need for an automatic meter reading system," Sanchez said. "My first year with the town, we produced 1.2 billion gallons of water but billed for only 929 million."

The crux of the trouble was an eclectic, antiquated meter population. With "all different brands of meters" ranging from new to 80 years old – and half or more of those 30 to 40 years and older – billing varied wildly from customer to customer. "We had revenue being lost with our older, inaccurate meters while the customers with new meters were paying more. We wanted a fair system." System-wide, even taking into consideration water used by the fire department and events such as main breaks, unaccounted-for water had risen above 20 percent.