Iconic New Orleans water meter covers get an update
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The new Sewerage and Water Board meter design incorporates the 100-year-old, iconic Ford Meter Box Co. design. Photo: Courtesy of SWBNO
As New Orleans transitions to a smart water meter system, the city will replace its iconic crescent moon and star-patterned water meter covers with an updated version.
Why it matters: The well-known water meter covers date back to 1921, and they were so popular that the city decided to start using plainer ones 50 years later to thwart thieves, according to Marta Jewson of The Lens.
What's happening: The New Orleans Sewerage and Water Board started installing its new smart water meters this fall.
- The smart meters remove the need for a water board employee to make the monthly rounds to read meters for water bill calculation. Plus, the meters can offer "near real-time" monitoring and leak alerts, according to spokeswoman Grace Birch.
- But the smart meters require an antenna to beam back data — and there's no feasible way to install one on so many of the older, cast iron covers.
- The antenna is a small, raised circle that covers the tech.
Yes, but: The SWBNO commissioned a new version of the crescent-and-stars meter covers to accommodate the antenna.
- Only about 20% of New Orleans water customers currently have the pretty, older covers, Birch says.
- The new design will land "in concrete, sidewalks or driveways," which represents about 35% of lids, she says.
The remaining 65% of meter covers are installed in grass or dirt, and SWBNO is drilling existing, plain lids to accommodate the antenna and keep costs down, Birch says.
What's next: For now, SWBNO is installing plain lids as it rolls out the new antenna-outfitted smart meters.
- The new lids featuring the crescent-and-stars design will be ready "in the coming weeks."
- As SWBNO removes the older meter covers, it will hold onto them as as it seeks community input for suggestions on how to use them in the future.