Toronto Water Meter Replacement Set to Start

The City of Toronto will begin replacing all 470,000 water meters this April, after widespread early failures leading, in some cases, to incorrect charges.

About 70% of the units — or 329,000 — have already failed, and the remaining units are expected to stop working by September.

Residents with faulty meters are currently billed on estimated usage, calculated from the property’s historical water consumption rather than actual readings.

Existing automated water meters were installed between 2009-2015, as part of a citywide upgrade. At the time, they were projected to have a 20-year lifespan.

The city says the meters’ batteries are dying faster than anticipated, forcing it to accelerate replacement plans years ahead of schedule. When the batteries die, the meters no longer accurately track and report water usage.

The replacement program will roll out by geographic zones prioritized based on failure rate, amount of time on estimated billing and volume of accounts.

Neptune Technology Group, the contractor hired by the city to complete the work, will contact customers directly to book appointments.

There is no fee for installation of the new meter. Replacement will take 20 to 30 minutes.

After replacement, residents can expect their bills to be adjusted within four to six weeks to reflect actual water usage instead of estimates.

The project is estimated to take three years at a cost of $103 million, with some 20,000 meters replaced each month.