Cedar Park Launches Online Portal Allowing For Hourly Water Usage Monitoring

CEDAR PARK, TX — City officials unveiled an online portal for water utility customers that allows residents to monitor their hourly water usage, set up alerts and other ways to check on their consumption.

By logging onto the secure portal at www.YoureRunningTheSH2Ow.com, customers can create an account to delve more deeply into their bills by studying their water usage, officials said. The name is a play on the chemical breakdown of water, H2O, and the phrase "running the show."

The online portal works in tandem with residential customers’ new digital water meters city crews finished installing in June.

Because the new portal is web-based, there is no need to download an app to use it, city officials noted. Rather, the portal is accessible via any web browser from a smart phone, tablet or PC. It allows customers to see their hourly water use, detect water waste (including leaks and continuous flow) and set customized alerts, city officials said.

Billing cycle and daily usage alerts notify the customer when they have reached their threshold, officials noted. Moreover, vacation alerts allow customers to temporarily override daily usage and to send alerts if usage goes over a set amount, city officials added.

"New digital water meters allow the city to improve utility analytics, reduce water loss and theft, decrease labor costs from driving to read water meters, establish a baseline for distribution leak detection and alerts customers of potential water leaks," officials said.

Digital water meters were installed after city council members directed utility staff to explore opportunities enabling improved access for customers related to their water usage and flexibility monitoring hourly or daily water consumption. The timing of that request, city officials noted, came at a time when the previous water meters were due for replacement.

Mayor Matt Powell touted the new customer portal: “It will allow people to do detective work on their usage and help them save water," he said in a prepared statement. "For people to proactively see that information, it is just wonderful.”

Place 5 Council Member Kristyne Bollier echoed the assessment: “I look forward to having more analytics not only for decision-making but also for information sharing with residents.”

City officials said 22,000 water meters were replaced with the new digital water meters. Total deployment of the digital water meters and online portal - also called advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) - cost under $5.5 million using the City’s Utility Fund savings, according to the city.

While the online portal launched on Monday, the data available through it will be available to commercial water customers in the near future, according to city officials.

For frequently asked questions about the new portal and digital meters (AMI), visit www.cedarparktexas.gov/ami.

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