...for City of Southlake news, business, and community happenings.
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- Southlake Water Utilities
Monday, March 20, 2023
The City of Southlake has announced its efforts to monitor technology with the existing water meter transmitters by upgrading them to 5G technology.
Beginning Monday, August 22, the current CDMA technology will be upgraded from 2G technology to 5G technology. This project is required due to the shutdown of most 2G and 3G services.
“The City of Southlake recently partnered with Bronco Utilities to replace approximately 7,800 CDMA transmitters (2G) to LTE transmitters (5G),” Deputy Director of Public Works, Operations Jack Thompson said. “This device sends the meter reading to Southlake Water Utilities for billing purposes, and also allows customers to monitor their water usage in an easier and more efficient manner.”
These upgrades will allow customers to continue to view their water usage reports in the EyeOnWater App yearly, monthly, weekly, daily, hourly, and in 15-minute flow data increments. This data can also be utilized for leak identifications.
The replacement and upgrade of transmitters are:
The project is estimated to be complete between December 2022 and January 2023, weather permitting.
For additional questions, please contact Public Works Operations at (817)748-8082 or visit us online.
ORIGINAL STORY:
Due to a system upgrade, the Customer Self-Service portal, the online system used for water payments and to request building inspections, will be offline beginning Thursday, December 2 through Sunday, December 5. The system is expected to be back up on Monday, December 6.
We apologize for the temporary inconvenience while we work on innovative ways to make our service better!
During this time, users will be unable to use the water payment portal or the EnerGov portal used to request building inspections. This upgrade is expected to make the software faster and easier to use.
If you need to make a water payment during this time, please mail your payment, come to the Southlake Water Utilities Office located in Town Hall, or use the after-hours drop box located in the breezeway between Origins and L’Occitane. Payments over the phone are not currently accepted by the office.
Due to the timing of the outage with the December 5 water payment due date, the 10% late fee will not be assessed for late payments. For questions about payments, please call Southlake Water Utilities at 817-748-8051.
If you need a building inspection during this time, please call the Building Inspections Office at 817-748-8236 or 817-748-8237. Please have your permit number, address, inspection type and other relevant information available when you call.
With temperatures warming, many of us are thinking of getting started with our yard watering schedule so we can have that lush, green grass. All of the yard watering schedules and tips can be found at www.SouthlakeWaterUtilities.com.
Before you set out to water your yard, check your sprinkler system. The W.I.S.E. Guys Program offers free sprinkler system evaluations.
Once your system is good to go, check out our Water Smart Outside page to sign up for weekly watering advice, view your watering schedule, and tips to design a beautiful, water-efficient landscape.
While we’re on the subject of water, check out the Water Smart Inside page for tips on checking for leaks and indoor water usage advice.
For all things water related, go to www.SouthlakeWaterUtilities.com.
Clean tanks mean clean drinking water and this year is no different. Every year, Southlake Water Utilities cleans and inspects each water storage tank in our drinking water system.
This is done to ensure we provide the cleanest drinking water facilities as possible for our customers.
When cleanings are performed, the City removes the tank from service for the duration of the cleaning and inspection process. Once complete, it will be returned back into service.
Starting early next week, contractors will be on site to clean the Florence Elevated Storage Tank (EST).
The Florence Tower is on its own pressure plane, the high-pressure plane. To clean the tank, crews will be opening the two pressure planes and taking the Florence tank out of service for cleaning and inspection. This process should take about two to three days, weather permitting.
Some customers on the high-pressure plane may experience around 5 to 10 psi (pounds per square inch) lower water pressure until crews return the tank back into service by the end of next week.
Most customers on the high-pressure plane will notice the pressure change. Once the project is completed, water pressure will return to normal.
For more information, please contact Southlake Water Utilities at 817-748-8082 if you have any questions.
Paying your water bill from the comfort of your home is easy.
Step 1 – Find your Visa, MasterCard, American Express or Discover Card that you would like to make a payment with.
Step 2 – Open a web browser and go to SouthlakeWaterUtilities.com.
Step 3 – Select “Pay my bill” button and a new window will open.
Step 4 – Enter the account number and customer ID found on your paper bill. You can check the box “Remember These Values” to save your information for future use.
Step 5 – Continue through the prompts to make a one-time payment. You also have the option to enroll in recurring credit card payments.(Note: In order to sign up for automatic payments, you will need to have a bill due and make a one-time payment through the system with the credit card you would like to use. The system will give you an option to enroll in recurring credit card payments, located at the top of your payment screen.)
Have questions about paying your water bill online? Call Southlake Water Utilities Customer Service at 817-748-8051 or email us at swucustomerservice@ci.southlake.tx.us.
Have you dropped your home phone line and only use a cell phone? Did you change your email address? Has it been awhile since you reviewed your contact information with Southlake Water Utilities?
If your contact information has changed, now is the time to review the information we have on file for you and make sure it’s up to date! Follow the simple steps below to update your information online or give us a call at: 817-748-8051.
2. You will land on the Customer Update Request page. Complete the information for your account and select “Update Account Information.”
3. You will land on the Customer Update Request page. Complete the information for your account and select “Update Account Information.”
Then sign and submit! It’s as easy as that! Have questions? We’re here to help! Call us at 817-748-8051 or find helpful water information at www.SouthlakeWaterUtilities.com.
One thing is for sure, water quality has always been a top priority for the City of Southlake.
The City has consistently invested in applications to allow the City and residents to monitor water usage, detect for leaks as well as provide information about water quality.
At the October 15 City Council meeting, Council approved the annual purchase agreement for BEACON Cellular Service for the City’s Water Smart Program with Badger Meter Inc. and upgrades to the City’s Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system.
BEACON is a cellular technology system that transmits daily readings to a central database through a cellular network. It’s the main source of the City’s Water Smart application. The BEACON Eye On Water operates as a central database to store utility customer’s water consumption readings to accurately bill the customer each month.
This software tool also improves the customer experience by providing the customer an option to review their water usage in real time online through the EyeOnWater app. In addition, it equips Public Works staff with the ability to monitor water operations such as investigate leaks, identify backflows and hardware issues and maintain cellular radio communication. All meters within the City of Southlake are equipped with this technology and residents can take advantage by downloading the EyeOnWater app for FREE.
The upgrades to the SCADA system are geared toward the City’s water distribution system and waste water collection system which is used to monitor and control the functionality and operation of drinking water systems, disinfectant levels, storage levels of the elevated and ground storage tanks of drinking water, pumping capacity of waste water lift stations, and delivery capability of transmission mains of both systems.
To maintain this system and ensure that it is reporting real-time data, SCADA software coding, servicing and maintenance are required when incidentals arise. Currently, the SCADA platform is operating on Windows 2008 and its end of life support will expire at the end of 2019.
The new upgrades will have the Wonderware software which includes the procurement of licensing, installation, setup and running the program on a cloud base reporting system. The upgrade will also bring enhanced reporting features to meet increasing regulatory requirements.
“Using the Wonderware and BEACON technology to implement cost-effective solutions for both the citizens and the utility allows us to take proactive measures when and if an issue arises at the customer’s tap,” stated Water Supervisor, Kyle Flanagan, “It also helps us maintain water quality as well keep a real-time eye on the overall condition of water and waste water infrastructure .”
Water, sewer, garbage and recycling rate changes will go into effect on October 1, 2018, for all Southlake Water Utilities customers. Residents will notice the increase on November bills.
Water Rate Change
In September this year, the Fort Worth City Council voted to increase its wholesale water costs. As a result, the increase will be passed on to Southlake customers. Southlake Water Utilities is a financially self-sustaining utility similar to electric and natural gas companies, where increased costs to the utility are passed on to consumers.
The City of Fort Worth is Southlake’s wholesale water provider. Fort Worth’s pass-through rate increase amounts to 4.38%.
What does this mean?
For example, if you have a one -inch water meter and consume 26,640 gallons of water a month, with the rate increase your water bill will increase by $7.26. This example is based on the average residential water consumption in Southlake.
Sewer Rate Change
In August of this year, the Trinity River Authority (TRA) Board of Directors voted to approve rate increases for sewer treatment at both Denton Creek and Central Regional wastewater plants. As a result, Southlake Water Utilities will be passing the 11% increase on to Southlake customers. The Trinity River Authority supplies sewer treatment to 98% of Tarrant County, including, Southlake.
The maximum residential sewer charge Southlake customers will see is $68.48 per month. This will also take effect on October 1, 2018, and the increase will show on the November billing statements.
Refuse Rate Change
In August, City Council approved a new five-year renewal of the contract with Republic Waste Services of Texas, Ltd. for waste and recycling services in Southlake. Under the new the contract renewal, residential collections will increase by $1.03 on October 1, 2018. The trash rate will increase annually by three percent and the recycling rates will be adjusted annually based on processing costs. Commercial collections and roll-off rates will increase by three percent on October 1 and three percent annually under the contract renewal.
You may view all of the above rate changes by visiting the Southlake Water Utilities webpage, then click the Water & Sewer Rates button.
Reminder, the effective date of increase for Southlake customers will begin October 1, 2018. Customers will see the changes reflected on their November bill.
It’s been a hot, dry summer. Triple digits are not fun for anyone and many of us turn to using more water to help cool down. From spending more time in the pool, running through the sprinkler and watering the landscape, it’s easy for water consumption to go up quickly. It’s easy to overlook until the water bill arrives with a higher number than usual.
The billing cycle covers the usage of approximately 30 days prior to receiving the bill; basically, you’ll be looking at charges for last month’s consumption rates. Here are a few important areas to pay special attention to when looking at the bill:
It’s important to take a look at the current usage and the usage graph when looking at the bill and in particular, compare the same period in the previous year with your current usage which will give you a better comparison than looking at current usage versus the previous month. Of course, there are also things you may be aware of that should be reflected in your consumption. Maybe you were on vacation during the billing cycle and the usage rates should be lower. There could be a leak somewhere that helped contribute to the higher numbers. If something does not look right with your numbers, we offer some great tools to help monitor water usage. The Eye on Water app brings water consumption monitoring to your fingertips and the WISE Guys program will bring a licensed irrigator to your house for a free irrigation system evaluation.
I know how to read my bill, but how do I pay it?
Southlake Water Utilities offers several different options for paying bills. The most convenient option is to pay the bill online. To do this, you’ll have to register and create an account. In order to create an online account, you’ll need your account number and your customer number.
If paying the bill online is not an option, visit Southlake Water Utilities Customer Service office on the second floor of Town Hall in suite 200. Customer Service representatives are happy to help customers make payments and answer any billing questions. A third option is to use the Southlake Water Utilities drop box located in the breezeway between Town Hall and the west parking garage in Town Square.
If you have any questions about your water bill, please contact Southlake Water Utilities Customer Service at (817) 748-8051.