News & Activity

LOS ANGELES—Mayor Eric Garcetti today announced a new water meter pilot program that will help the City conserve more water as California continues to endure the most punishing drought in state history. During the month of January, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) outfitted 28 City parks with 100 Smart Water Meters. The parks have begun using the meters to test the broader viability of the new technology.

The state-of-the-art Smart Meters offer significant technological advantages over the current industry standard. The new meters detect leaks automatically and capture detailed usage data in 15-minute intervals, which they instantly feed into a cloud-based server for real-time display online.

“Conserving water now will shape our City’s future for generations,” said Mayor Eric Garcetti. “We must collaborate, innovate, and use the best technology available to secure our water supplies. These Smart Meters are the critical investment we need.”

Like most water customers, the Department of Recreation and Parks currently monitors its usage through its bi-monthly bills. Improved real-time water use data will help the Department find and fix leaks faster, improve overall water management, and help the Department achieve even greater savings.

This pilot will build on Recreation and Parks’ leadership in water conservation. Last fiscal year, the Department reduced its water usage by 26 percent, enough water to serve 8,000 L.A. households for a year.

“The Department of Recreation and Parks has made tremendous progress in the area of water conservation over the past few years,” said Michael A. Shull, General Manager of the Department of Recreation and Parks. “This new smart meter pilot program will further assist us in tracking and monitoring water use across our park system on a real-time basis, which will continue to help us meet our water conservation goals while maintaining the health and safety of our parks.”

LADWP is currently testing many advanced meter technologies, and examining their compatibility with other LADWP systems. LADWP will pursue strategies for broader implementation in the coming years.

“As it is said, ‘knowledge is power,’ and advanced meters will give the Department of Recreation and Parks the power to optimize their water usage and minimize their utility costs,” said Marty Adams, LADWP Senior Assistant General Manager of the Water System. “Rec and Parks has been a long-standing partner in conserving water, and this opens a new chapter in our joint efforts to meet the Mayor’s Executive Directive No. 5 and Save the Drop. LADWP is piloting advanced metering and other innovative technologies in strategic locations across L.A. in order to develop a set of tools that will best serve to monitor system conditions, provide real-time information to our customers, and ultimately conserve our water supply.”

The launch of the pilot program comes as the City considers a citywide water rate increase proposed by LADWP. The increase will help Los Angeles invest in critically needed water infrastructure, develop more local water supplies, and expand water conservation efforts. The revenue generated by the rate increase will be crucial for testing and broadly implementing advanced metering technology.

Since the announcement of Mayor Garcetti’s Executive Directive in October 2014, L.A. residents and businesses have worked actively to conserve water, taking full advantage of LADWP’s rebate programs. Water use for the year ending December 31, 2015 was 107 gallons per capita per day (GPCD), compared to 131 GPCD for the fiscal year ending June 2014, a reduction of more than 17 percent.

For more information, and tips for conserving water, visit www.savethedropla.org.

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