SFPUC picked Aclara's fixed radio network in 2009 and began replacing San Francisco's roughly 175,000 water meters in June 2010. Transmitters now cover more than 96% of accounts, sending hourly readings to 81 collectors; My Account shows hourly and daily use, and a courtesy leak alert flags 48 hours of constant flow. Ageing transmitters have since left thousands unbilled.
SFPUC reported that the Leak Alert programme saved customers an estimated 47 million gallons of water in the fiscal year before August 2021, when it was extended from homes to commercial, industrial and large multi-family accounts. No independent evaluation of the meter programme has been published.
🎓 Lesson
A meter that reports hourly can still fail to bill. San Francisco's alerts are a courtesy with nothing enforced behind them, and when the radios aged out about 8,200 customers went months — some more than a year — without a bill, because the utility could not keep up with the repairs.
Evidence🏛️ Official
Scale🏙️ City-wide
Cost≈$50M, recovered through a 91-cent monthly charge on water bills (2010 press figure)
FundingSFPUC water ratepayers
Sources
↗ SFPUC — About Your Water Meter (authority)The operator's own description of the system. Supports: 'Meter transmission units are now in place for nearly all of San Francisco's 178,000 water accounts'; the Aclara Fixed Network AMI STAR System reading 'more than 96% of San Francisco's water accounts'; the MTU collecting a reading each hour and sending to a collector 'Every six hours'; 'A total of 81 Data Collectors are located throughout the city'; and the My Account data going live in Spring 2014 with downloadable daily and monthly reports.
↗ SFPUC — Leak Alerts: Find and Fix Leaks (authority)Currency check and the mechanics. A 'courtesy Leak Alert Program' that 'reviews hourly water use for all meters that transmit data to us electronically', with no sign-up needed; alerts after '48 hours of continuous water use of 7.5 gallons an hour or more' at small accounts, and on overnight use 100% or 300% above the 90-day average at large ones. Gives the current operating figure: 'over 170,000 meters serving 165,000-plus customers'. Confirms My Account is the live customer portal in 2026.
↗ SFPUC — Announces Expansion of Leak Alert Program (12 August 2021)The only quantified result found, and it is self-reported: 'In the last fiscal year, the Leak Alert program saved SFPUC customers an estimated 47 million gallons of water.' Also dates the extension of alerts beyond homes to 'commercial and industrial properties and larger multi-family buildings', and gives the commercial thresholds (increases of 50 percent or more in use over 90 days, plus nightly spikes).
↗ Government Technology — San Francisco Water Meters to Detect Leaks, Help Customers Track Usage (26 July 2010)Anchors the start and the money: the SFPUC 'on June 7 began its automated water meter program, a two-year effort'; 'San Francisco started replacing its 175,000-plus water meters in June'; and 'The $50 million program is being funded by a 91-cent fee that's being tacked onto ratepayers' monthly bills.' The cost and the funding mechanism rest on this press account only — no SFPUC or Controller cost document was reachable. Also records that the online-viewing component was expected to lag the installation, which it did by four years.
↗ WaterWorld — San Francisco chooses Aclara AMI system to track water consumption (24 November 2009)Dates the vendor selection to November 2009 and describes the STAR Network: low-frequency radio, hourly readings sent four times a day, replacing manual reads taken every two months residentially. Carries the claim that SFPUC 'will be the first major California water utility to install Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) technology to track water consumption' — a vendor-announcement claim in trade press, deliberately not used in the entry.
↗ SFPUC — Delayed Water and Sewer Bills, Frequently Asked Questions (authority)The utility's own account of the failure. 'A technical problem led to some customers not receiving a water and sewer bill for several months. The problem was caused by certain transponders on water meters' — the meters read correctly but 'the transponders were not sending that data electronically to our billing system.' The admission: 'Staffing and equipment shortages left us unable to keep up with repairing our aging automated metering equipment. The situation was exacerbated by supply chain delays.' Also states SFPUC is 'in the process of evaluating and upgrading our meter transponder system', which is the only evidence of a second generation — no contract, count or schedule is given.
1001 Smart Cities (2026). “SFPUC Automated Water Meter Programme” — San Francisco, United States. The Smart City Atlas. https://1001smartcities.org/projects/sf-automated-water-meters/ (last verified 2026-07-26). Data: CC BY 4.0.
The underlying data is free to reuse with attribution — see the open data page.
