Portage la Prairie's Water Meter Replacement and Upgrade Program is going smoothly. City of Portage Water Works committee chair Wayne Wall notes they're over 30% done the project and says they'll be at 50% in the near future.

"We have installed 1,462 meters and we've booked appointments for 857 future installs. That takes us to about half of the total of 4,723 that are going to be replaced in this program."

He says the new self powered meters being installed around portage could potentially save users a lot of money.

"These water meters of course, being new and electronic, are going to be more accurate which will give us a better idea of what's happening in the system. In the top left corner of the display screen there's a little leak display, so it'll be very helpful to homeowners who are wondering if there water meter reading is correct and wondering why their bill is so high."

Wall notes installation time for one of the new meters can be under an hour if you're prepared.

"It's a pretty painless process. They arrived at my house and within about 45 minutes everything was done and he was gone. That included pulling in a new wire from my water meter to where the reading device was on the outside. We are asking people to make sure the meters are accessible before the guy gets to your home."

Wall notes the meters are self powered by an internal battery and they work by transmitting a low frequency signal to the tower at the fire hall. He says if everything continues to run on schedule, all of the meters in the program should be replaced by August.