As you may be aware, Woodmoor Water and Sanitation District No. 1 (the District) is currently replacing all meters within the District. This program will be completed over a 5-year period (2022-2026). The information below will update you regarding current and upcoming activities and when you can anticipate scheduling for your water meter to be replaced.

Program Summary

In 2006, the District completed our previous Meter Replacement Program. The meters and transponders from that program have reached the end of their useful life, and the equipment is beginning to fail across the District creating a need for their replacement in order to ensure accurate and reliable water consumption metering. If your water tap was installed later than 2006, your meter will still need to be replaced, but it will likely be in the later years of this program.

The 2022 Meter Replacement Program will be replacing the existing Badger brass-body positive displacement meters with Kamstrup polymer-bodied or Diehl brass-bodied ultrasonic meters. In addition, the District will be replacing the Badger radio-read (AMR) endpoints with AquaCell cellular (AMI) endpoints. Under this program, the District plans to replace approximately 1,000 residential meters per year for 4 years (2022-2025) and replace all commercial meters in year 5 (2026). To accomplish our replacement goals most efficiently, the District has Divided our service area into 4 residential “meter replacement zones”. Each zone is depicted on the attached color-coded map (Red, Green, Blue, and Gold) with meter replacements being conducted pursuant to the following schedule:

2022 - Red Zone
2023 - Blue Zone
2024 - Green Zone
2025 - Gold Zone
2026 - Commercial 

Meter Replacement Zone Map

What should you expect with this program?

Customers whose premises are within the boundaries of the “red zone” on the attached map will be the first to have their meters replaced. The remaining zones will take place over the next four years. Customers in this year’s zone are encouraged to call the District office at 719-488-2525 to schedule their appointments. Customer appointments will be scheduled Monday-Thursday in 4-hour time blocks (8am-12pm & 1pm-5pm).

Two District operations team members will arrive at the customer’s premises within the scheduled time window to perform the work. Water meters are often located in utility closets or crawl spaces, and our team members will need access to that area in order to complete the work. Someone over the age of 18 must be home for the installation appointment. Replacing the meter and endpoint generally takes between 15 and 30 minutes, depending on the ease of accessing the meter.

Once your meter has been replaced, your account will automatically transfer over to the new metering system. Unlike the existing metering system, the new metering system is equipped with a lot more features and tools that customers can utilize on the “AquaHawk” customer portal.

New “AquaHawk” Customer Portal

You can sign up to use your unique AquaHawk portal, which will allow customers with the new meters installed to access many beneficial customer tools, including:

 - Setting up personalized notifications, such as leak alerts
 - Viewing your water usage data in real time (data updated every 4 hours)
 - Viewing and paying your bill through the portal
 - Many other useful tools

Signing up for portal access is free and it is not mandatory, but it is recommended due to the many advantages and features it offers customers. If you would like to set up your user portal, please go to https://woodco.aquahawk.us/login and register your account after June 21st.

Regardless of when your meter is scheduled to be installed, all customers can sign up for portal access and will be able to view their usage and bills. However, the real time usage data and leak alerts will only be accessible by those with the new meter assembly, as the existing metering system is only able to transfer data via radio signal once at the end of each month. The new system will transfer water usage data multiple times per day using cellular technology.

With the growing concern about cyber security and potential data breaches, the District has conducted a review of the data being transferred via cellular signal for the new equipment. The equipment manufacturer has assured us that no sensitive or personal information will be transferred, as none is connected to your meter. The only data that the new metering equipment transfers is water usage that the meter is reading and the meter number.

As this is the first year of this program, it is possible that the District will make some updates or changes to the implementation and scheduling of the work. We will keep our customers apprised of any changes and progress of the program on a frequent basis.

Scheduling Your Appointment If your home is within the boundaries shown on the attached map for the current year, please call our Administrative Assistant, Lauren, to schedule your appointment. She can be reached at (719) 488-2525 ext. 10

If your home is located in a future year, no action is required at this time. We will follow up with additional notifications each year alerting customers in other zones when it’s their time to schedule.

If you have any questions about this program, or to schedule your appointment, please do not hesitate to contact us at (719) 488-2525. Thank you in advance for your help in making this program a success.

• Question: Why is my water meter being replaced? 
• Answer: Our last Meter Replacement Program was completed in 2006. The expected life span of a water metering system is 15 to 20 years. The non-replaceable batteries in the current meters/endpoints are now failing and the older metering technology is becoming harder and harder to maintain due to being replaced by newer technology.
  
  
• Question: Are the new meters being installed "Smart Meters"?
• Answer: Technically YES, all AMI type metering systems are classified as "Smart Meters" (bi-directional communication and some form of control), but unlike other meters of this type, our meters do not utilize many of these functions. Our meters simply send out very small bits of data once every 6 hours (this includes meter/endpoint IDs and 6 hourly meter readings), nothing is transmitted back to the meter except a confirmation of receipt and we do not have any remote control functionality.
  
  
• Question: Do your meters/endpoints use 5G signals/networks?
• Answer: NO, the protocol used is LTE-M  (LTE machine) - this is a low bandwidth channel for small data transmissions. The power levels and frequencies have been studied and certified by the FCC to be safe for humans. AquaCell Endpoints use non-ionizing radio waves to communicate to local cell towers once every 6 hours for a few milliseconds (less than 1 second). The AquaCell Endpoints we use have been certified to meet FCC standards - FCC ID: N7NHL78.
  
  
• Question: Is there information/data available about the new water meters being installed?
• Answer: YES, AquaCell cellular endpoint data is available here and Diehl HYDRUS 2.0 water meter information is available here.
  
  
• Question: I don't have a basement, is my water meter still inside my home?
• Answer: YES, your meter is probably in a utility closet where your hot water heater is located or in your crawl space near the main water shutoff valve.
  
  

The District has maintained a sanitary sewer cleaning and inspection program for many years. This program consisted of the cleaning and CCTV inspection of the entire collection system every 5 years (5 zones, 1 zone cleaned and inspected per year). This program has allowed the District to evaluate the condition of the system and plan for renewal / replacement efforts when needed. This program has also greatly reduced sanitary sewer overflows / backups.

Due to the availability of new technology, the District has decided to deploy a new inspection strategy which will allow us to be more efficient and effective in utilizing maintenance staff and equipment while shortening the time between inspections.

Starting in 2023, the Sewer Line Rapid Assessment Tool (SL-RAT™) by RH Borden will be used to assess the current condition of the sanitary sewer collection system. This tool uses sound waves bounced between two manholes to quickly identify pipes in need of maintenance or repair. The inspection team will also be performing comprehensive manhole inspections as they move through the District. The assessment should be completed in approximately 1 months time and will provide condition data for the entire system in a single year. Once the District has received the results, we will begin manually cleaning and inspecting the lines identified by the assessment as needing attention.

You will notice multiple trucks in the area going from manhole to manhole during the month of April while RH Borden completes the sewer system assessment. Please be aware that many District sewer lines run within easements which are to either side or behind homes and businesses. The RH Borden crew will do their best not to disturb residents or their property during this process.

Thank you for your cooperation and understanding. Please call our office at (719) 488-2525 if you have any questions or concerns.

The Woodmoor Water and Sanitation District has contracted Caraveo Construction Inc to replace water service saddles on the PVC domestic water pipelines for residences within the Forest subdivision of Woodmoor. The contractors are required to conform to the El Paso County noise ordinances and will be limited to working hours of 8 am to 5 pm, Monday through Thursday, excluding any holidays. The Contractor plans to mobilize to the site the week of March 27th and will complete their work in approximately 90 business days.

Emergency failures on water pipelines cause extended service outages for customers, create challenges and risks for District personnel, and are quite costly. In 2020, the District began a restoration and replacement program for the water distribution system. The first two years consisted of gathering data and assessing pipeline conditions. It was found that the most common cause of water line failures in the highlighted area of Woodmoor Forest is due to the corrosion of water service saddles. Therefore, this year we are replacing all service saddles in your neighborhood that were not already replaced within the last 3 years.

There will be segmented interruptions of service to perform this work. The contractor anticipates being able to replace 3 to 4 service saddles per day, so there may be multiple days of shutdowns on some streets. The attached address list is the proposed order that the contractor plans to perform the work. The contractor will notify affected customers via door hangers at least 48 hours prior to shutting down the water in their segment. Additionally, we have been in contact with the Lewis Palmer School District transportation department regarding this work. They will contact you directly if there is a temporary change in the bus route or bus stop location as a result of this work. We appreciate your patience and understanding as we work to better our water distribution system for our customers.

Please contact Ariel Hacker - District Engineer at 719-488-2525 ext. 13 with any questions.

The Districts newly drilled well (Well 22) will see a new building constructed, downhole equipment installed and a new transmission pipeline routing the well water to our transmission line located at the corner of Alexandria Drive and Hammock Oaks Court this summer. The District anticipates utilizing water from this new well by fall of 2023.

The District will be adding a new distribution pressure system in south Woodmoor (primarily to service the Jackson Creek corridor). Pressure reducing valves will be installed in 4 locations throughout the current system such that main line pressure will be moderated in southwest Woodmoor. Customers shouldn’t notice any significant change in their water pressure as a result of the project, however, during construction customers can expect temporary outages in service while connection to the new PRV’s are made. Customers will be notified when these interruptions are imminent. Construction is expected to start in July of 2023.