Looking to pay your water bill or view your water usage? Visit the City of Lawrence Customer Portal to pay your bill, view water usage and start, stop and restore services.
The City of Lawrence has upgraded water meters across town to smart meters, which will benefit customers and improve utility operations. The new smart meters will give Lawrence new tools and information to help you be more water-efficient in your home and business. It is also a cost-savings program that will send your water use directly to the City, reducing manual meter reading and providing proactive leak detection to help catch wasteful water leaks.
Program Benefits
Reduced Operational Costs
- Eliminates the need for manual meter reads, saving time and money.
- Streamlines the billing process using the latest data management technology.
Improved Customer Service
- Provides you with detailed water usage data.
- Ensures accurate billing.
Reduced Environmental Impacts
- Eliminates the need for vehicles to read meters or to start and stop water service.
- Alerts City staff of possible leaks in the system, improving response time and reducing water waste.
Health & Safety
The FCC, American Cancer Society and the World Health Organization have published research studies indicating there is NO EVIDENCE that smart meters pose a health risk due to exposure from radio frequency.
The smart water meters being installed in Lawrence only transmit periodically, which greatly reduces the amount of radio frequency exposure as compared to a meter that sends a constant signal.
Emission Levels Compared to Smart Meters*
Additional Health & Safety Resources
- Sensus – Understanding RF and Smart Meters
- FCC – Evaluating Compliance with FCC Guidelines for Human Exposure to Radiofrequency Electromagnetic Fields (PDF)
- FCC – Radio Frequency FAQ
- EPRI – Radio-Frequency Exposure Levels from Smart Meters: A Case Study of One Model (PDF)
- EDF – Smart Meters Benefits & Fact Sheet (PDF)
- WHO – Electromagnetic Fields and Public Health: Base stations and wireless technologies
- WHO – Electromagnetic Fields and Public Health: Electromagnetic hypersensitivity
How Smart Meters Work
- SMART METERS – Smart meters record meter readings on an hourly basis, providing customers with detailed usage info to better track and understand their water usage. The smart meters also send alarms to help identify issues such as leaks or communication problems, allowing issues to be identified sooner.
- COMMUNICATIONS NETWORK – The new smart meters automatically deliver meter reading and alarm information back to the City’s systems through a safe and secure signal.
- CITY OF LAWRENCE – The City automatically receives meter reading for billing and important alerts, which allows faster response to service disruption (i.e., water leaks) and customer inquiries.
- CUSTOMER ACCESS – Once the upgrades are complete, customers can view and monitor their hourly water usage and set notifications through the Customer Portal.