By: Jeremiah Ward | June 30, 2025
Ware, MA — This Spring, the Quabbin Sunrise Cooperative, a resident-owned manufactured home community with 65 households, made a big cost-saving discovery. Five-thousand gallons of water a day were leaking from various points in their water distribution system, leading to high water bills, increased wear and tear on the system, and compliance issues with the state’s water regulations.
They would never have known the source of the leaks if it weren’t for the new smart water meters they installed back in May. After installing the smart meters, the results were instant. Daily water usage at the 65-home community dropped from 12,000 gallons to just 7,000. A single running toilet can waste more than 200 gallons a day.
“Before the meters, it was like playing whack-a-mole,” said Chris Latino, Quabbin’s board president. “There were some nights where we had to go down to the pump house at midnight and keep an eye on things. Now we can see where the leaks are, fix them quickly, and stop wasting time and money.”
The Kamstrup smart water meters and their accompanying software detect, graph, and map unusual water usage both within each home and throughout the distribution system using built-in acoustic sensors. In just the first month after installation, Quabbin identified and fixed three substantial leaks and they’re now using the data to guide decisions about where to prioritize future water line replacements.
In addition, the electricity bill for Quabbin’s water pumps is already down by more than 30%, and the co-op expects to replace those pumps far less frequently.
The smart meters were installed under each of the 65 homes, and the total cost of the project was only $55,000, or $850 a home. The cooperative received a grant from the Massachusetts Drought Resiliency and Water Efficiency program, which covered 90% of the cost to install the new meters, thanks to the help of CDI’s Water Infrastructure Support Program (WISP).
The cost of installation more than pays for itself, said Jeremiah Ward, Director of WISP, which helps eligible resident-owned communities access grant funding to cover essential infrastructure projects. The water meters are saving the community from having to do exploratory digging to find a single leak, which can cost up to $5,000-$10,000 each time, Mr. Ward explained.
Most manufactured home communities across the Northeast are managing water systems originally built more than 50 years ago and increasingly spring leaks as they age. Many of these older systems also use PVC pipes that don’t respond well to traditional leak detection equipment.
Today, with the new smart meters, the community can take daily drive-by water readings using a tablet and Bluetooth connection. Readings take less than five minutes.
Quabbin’s volunteer board of directors spent a lot of hours, on top of full-time jobs, to make the meter project happen, including prepping for installation, pre-ordering fittings, and riding along with the contractor to oversee the installation at each home.
“It was a lot of work,” Mr. Latino admitted, “but it’s one of the smartest things we’ve done.”
