Water Meters Coming to Land Park in Sacramento

Water meters are coming to Land Park in July 2017.

When Meters Matter began in 2005, water meters coming to Land Park seemed so far into the future. But 2017 is here and the city will begin installing water meters in the next couple of months. I thought about that as my husband and I walked to the Sunday Farmer’s Market under the W / X Freeway in Land Park. It was considered late by market produce, just after 11 AM, but still relatively early by our schedule. We tend to take it pretty slow and easy Sunday mornings, easing into the day.

Then, all of a sudden, the truck and fire engine from the Sacramento Fire Department on Broadway and 8th Street emerged, lights going. They both pulled around the corner on 8th Street and headed north, blaring. Well, it is Memorial Day Weekend. Beer, propane and matches don’t always mix.

You know, I grew up in Minneapolis, and we always had water meters. When we moved to Sacramento 15 years ago, I could not believe we had no water meters!

Now, with water meters coming to Land Park, many of our neighbors are grumbling because we will soon be billed based on our usage of water. What a concept. Our present bill is based on the number of rooms in the house and our frontage on the street, and we pay $157 a month. This bill also includes trash, which is based on the size of the cans, and our cans are large recycling and yard waste, with medium trash.

The water meters coming to Land Park will be installed either in your front yard or the back yard, depending on where your water main is located. For us, it’s in the back yard and that particular area is concrete, up against the house. I wonder if this means they will dig up our sidewalk? The boxes will measure 28 inches by 18 inches and should be flush with the ground. Looks like the first installation is Phase 3, West of Riverside, in Upper Land Park.

The Meters Matter project starts at 7 AM and runs to 6 PM. Water will be turned off for up to four hours and streets might be blocked off. Woo-hoo, I can hardly wait. Hope I don’t have to take listing and can’t get out of my driveway.

If you have questions, you can email Meters Matter at watermeter@cityofsacramento.org.