Punta Gorda officials looking into concerns over faulty water meters

City officials say half of the 14,000 water meters installed in 2018 are now faulty, and that has been causing concern among residents that their water bills are wrong.

However, WINK News has not spoken to anyone who was overcharged for their water usage.

Lynne Matthews, Mayor Of Punta Gorda, addressed the issue with city council members at Wednesday’s meeting. 

“I asked for this to be added to the agenda because there has been a huge amount of commenting being done on social media about our water meters and the issues we’re having with them,” Matthews said.

So, just how many meters are there, and how many are faulty? 

“When we talk about the system and the scope of it, and we have over 14,000 meters that are out there, surface locations, and 50% plus a little bit, those have failed in the system,” Murray said.

Fifty percent have failed.  

The city said approximately 6,400 meters for the city do not work how they’re supposed to, and the issue isn’t with tracking the water.  

Punta Gorda Communications said the issue is that some of the meters and other transmission devices are not transmitting the data automatically.   

Some Punta Gorda residents like Bill don’t mind.  

“It’s been great. They come out, and if it wasn’t working, they come read it. They’re on the job, and they do what they’re supposed to do,” Bill said, “but if someone’s complaining about their water bill being high then they can ask the city, and they’ll tell them what it was.”

The city will be releasing a solicitation for meter reading services. The city said utility staff is working to replace the defective meters and is looking to hire people to go door to door to read the meters manually. 

Utility customers with questions about their bills can reach billing and collections.