After several $2000+ monthly water bills, I am considering having water meters installed in my 74 unit MH Park. What should I expect re the average cost per meter and installation cost? any additional advice/suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
I used to sell metering services and $500/space was the absolute max for a state of the art wireless system with 3rd party billing and collections. Have seen as low as $150-200 space depending where the park is at and lesser materials (plastic vs brass). Feel free to email me at jsheedy@econosmartllc.com or PM me and I can shoot you his info.
John
jwpopejr Wrote:
After several $2000+ monthly water bills, I am
considering having water meters installed in my 74
unit MH Park. What should I expect re the average
cost per meter and installation cost? any
additional advice/suggestions would be greatly
appreciated.
You must meter. You’ll find your water bill falls by about 1/3 (due to tenants conserving), and you will bill it through. Water meters enable you to effectively completely remove the water expense from your P&L.
We use the Minomess 130. It cost around $140/space for the meter, and another $60 on average to have it installed. $200/space total. Installation costs will vary depending on the plumbing layout and location of each house.
Best,
-jl-
Be sure your installer does a good job of insulating them if you’re prone to freezing. Was in a park this winter where all the meters were installed by a company out of Tenn but since they don’t worry about freezing meters they didn’t do anything to protect them. Meters froze, broke and flooded the streets. I had to go back and take care of my customers in that park. Needless to say homeowners weren’t happy with management.
Hi Jefferson,
Does the minomess 130 have a remote read capability?
Thanks, Bob
It has an add-on accessory that is an 8’ wire with digital read-out display that you can mount on the side of the house (e.g. if the main meter is mounted in-line with the pipes well under the house). The Minomess 130 does not have a wireless remote-read capability (that I am ware of).
-jl-
Hey Jefferson
Are the Minomess 130 plastic or composite? I have to replace all my meters due to the new lead free law…
I believe they are brass, but just look them up on the web.
Best,
-jl-
Hey Jefferson, are you guys still using Minomess 130? They seem to have gone up a bit in price and don’t have the LED reader included. Maybe you’ve found a better deal in the last two years? Hope all is well. Thank you! Will.
We can get you fully installed at 385 per site with wireless radio tagged meter that flags for leaks , tampering of the meter , high users of water.
It provides you daily reports and sends email and text message alerts. Meter comes with a 20 year warranty.
We have over 24 years of experience.
Give me a call
or visit our website
Gabriel@abtwater.com
1800.697.9096 EXT 14
We also provide turn key billing services that doesn’t require you to lift a finger.
look forward to hearing from you.
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The cost for meters vary from direct read meters around $50 to full Rf equipped meters are $150, Central RF data collectors (to remotely read the meters) range from $750 to $2000, monthly third party billing services run @$5 per unit. Most states allow passing through of the monthly billing fee (third party billing). Typically no-profit is allowed on the cost of water and sewer, just a pass through.
Meter Installation is @ 1 hour plumber charges.
Expect 25 to 35% usage reduction when your tenants pay for their own water/sewer use.
We’re here to answer your sub-metering questions.
Sincerely
Dan Helton
President
Southern Water Management
Mid-West Water Management
727-827-4509 cell 727-421-9695
Dan@SouthernWaterManagement.com
This falls under a more philosophical answer to water billing, meter reading, and park finances.
I try to keep the money that I spend on the parks, within the parks, whenever possible. I pay people who live there to mow the grass. The manager reads the water meters and in doing so, does a detailed walk of the park. One resident volunteered to install a security system and I gave him a $100 bonus.
If we have to spend money on the park, which we often do, I try to keep that money going to the park residents. Yes, I have to be extra careful who I trust and don’t trust in the park. Once I find the good, trustworthy residents, paying them to do small things in my parks gives me another set of loyal eyes and ears. It also adds to the feeling of community building and makes residents care more about their park when they are working within it. You wouldn’t believe how many referrals I get from current residents because of the great communication and good feelings between the owners and the residents.
I understand the benefits of hiring a third party to do install and billing and meter readings, I really do. There is also an emotional and inspirational component that doesn’t often get valued that I thought was worth mentioning.
Will.
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I found a some nice systems at flows.com they have Wi-Fi, Ethernet, and others. There is also a nice option for a wireless “touch-read” (you still have to go to the meter and touch the reader against the digital display). I chose this system since it allows me to do some basic site inspection as I walk through the park to read the meters. I used WM-PC plastic water meters from Assured Automation which are $58 each - direct, (but only $55 from flows.com) with a reed switch pulse output wired to the T210 remote digital display. The T210s are weatherproof for outdoor mounting. then you’ll need the PSR140 programmer/reader, which has a nub that you touch to the digital displays. it records the serial number, reading and date and time. You can then transfer all of the readings to a PC via USB cable for billing. There are other features like leak alarms and no-flow alarms. I’m very happy with this system. I can’t help you with the others since I did not go that route, but I can tell you that they do offer them at flows.com. Hope this Helps! 
Water meters and submeters In MN must by state law be located indoors not under a mobile home regardless of heat tape or not.