Update on water meter replacement project

The City of Kingsport is continuing to make progress on a $3 million water meter replacement project with the latest goal being to return to normal, 30-day billing cycles later this summer.

The water meter replacement project dates back to December 2020, when the batteries in some water meters started to fail. As a result, the city’s water services department was not able to electronically detect an accurate reading of water usage.

In response, the city began replacing these water meters with new ones in the spring of 2021. To date, approximately 16,700 water meters have been replaced throughout the city.

“All of these new water meters have been programmed by the company and we’ve started using the drive-by reading system this week,” said Deputy City Manager Ryan McReynolds. “This should allow us to greatly speed up the water meter reading process.”

Once the city receives readings through the entire system and reprograms any water meters that may not be programmed correctly, the base station and repeaters will be turned on. This will allow the city to obtain readings remotely, without having to drive by or manually read the water meters.

Kingsport anticipates having all remaining water meters in its 39,000-count system replaced with new ones within the next couple of years.

Please note – Your water meter is registering the correct water usage and you’re not being overbilled for your water. If you have any further questions about your water bill, please call 423-343-9860.