2023 Water Meter Replacement Program

PROJECT INFORMATION

The Village is in the process of upgrading its water meter equipment technology, which will ultimately result in improved service and a convenience to all residents. The project will begin in late November 2023 and should be completed by April 30, 2024.  

The Village Board of Trustees recently approved an installation contract with Calumet City Plumbing of Calumet City, Ill. In the coming months, Calumet City Plumbing will be mailing you a letter requesting that you contact their scheduling subcontractor, M.E. Simpson Company (via phone or online), to make an appointment. Please do not call to make an appointment until you receive a letter from Calumet City Plumbing. During the appointment, Calumet City Plumbing will complete the following necessary items: 

• Change out water meter (if it is an old meter).
• Install a new radio read device on the outside of your home.
• Verify your water service material type (i.e. copper, plastic, galvanized, lead, etc.) for inventory purposes.

Installation of the new radio read device will allow the Village to read your water meters remotely, compared to the current way of walking door to door. Verification of the service line material type is mandated by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency. This project will affect all residents and business owners due to the verification of water service material type inspection that Calumet City Plumbing will be completing as part of the project.

Water meters and outside readers are the property of the Village of Flossmoor, and the customer is required to make the meter and the outside reader accessible to the Village pursuant to Village Ordinance (FMC 277-3-2). Please be aware that in the event that you fail to make an appointment, water service will be shut off.  

Calumet City Plumbing will make several attempts to contact you by mail. If you fail to make an appointment, water service will be shutoff within 48 hours of a Village door hanger being left at the residence. In the event that your water service is shut off, the Village will charge a reconnection fee. If you will be out of town and away from your home between November 2023 – April 2024, please call the Village Public Works Department at (708) 957-4100 so your water meter can be replaced upon your return.

Please call to make an appointment, or schedule online, when you receive a mailing from Calumet City Plumbing to avoid water service disruption. The Village of Flossmoor would like to thank you in advance for your cooperation in making this project a success.

CONTRACTOR INFORMATION

Calumet City Plumbing Co. is a reputable licensed plumbing contractor with more than 20 years of experience in water meter replacement projects. You can read more about Calumet City Plumbing on their website located at www.ccp1967.com. Below are typical photos of the Calumet City Plumbing service vehicles that will be in town completing this project.

The Calumet City Plumbing installers will be wearing their company identification badges on all appointments. An example of what the identification badge will look like is shown below. If anyone comes to your door without this identification badge and is not driving one of the company vehicles shown above, do not let them in your house, and call the Flossmoor Police Department non-emergency number at (708) 957-4500 to report the incident.  

WATER METER EQUIPMENT

The Village of Flossmoor uses Sensus water meters and equipment. The smaller water meters (5/8" - 1") in the Village's inventory are Sensus iPERL water meters. You can read more about the iPERL water meter here. The larger water meters (1.5" - 6") in the Village's inventory are the Sensus OMNI water meters. You can read more about the OMNI water meters here. Approximately 30% of the water meters in the Village have already been upgraded to these newer style meters. 

As part of this water meter upgrade project, a fixed base radio network will be installed so that all of our water meters can be read remotely. This technology is also referred to Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI). With this system, a radio transceiver will be installed outside the home in-lieu of the meter touchpad. This transceiver will communicate meter readings to an antenna that is installed on a Village water tower. This antenna is connected to the Village's computer network and software that will be used to collect meter readings for utility billing purposes. This part of the project will result in an improvement in efficiency as compared to the older way of a meter reader walking the neighborhoods and reading the meter touchpads with a scanning tool.  This new system will also allow the Village to set up alarms that can assist water customers in identifying water leaks in your homes and businesses. You can read more about the Sensus AMI system here. 

With any radio communication system, concerns arise around the topic of electromagnetic radiation and the effects it may have on the human body. Sensus has studied this topic as it relates to the Sensus AMI system and the results show that their system is safe and the radio transmissions emit less radio energy than a common cell phone call. You can read more about this study here.