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Public Utilities - WaterSmart

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1. What is the WaterSmart Software Program?

Athens-Clarke County Public Utilities Department has partnered with WaterSmart Software to offer our customers a resource to help you better understand and manage your water use.  It provides you with a social comparison, helps you track water use, and offers personalized recommendations for the most effective ways to save water.  For instance, if your outdoor water use is high, you will see suggestions related to irrigation practices.

2. How do I register or log into my WaterSmart Account?

To register, visit this link: https://accgov.watersmart.com. Enter your ACC PUD water account number located on your water bill and your zip code.  Once you register, you can create a username and password based on an email of your choice. 

3. What if I forget my WaterSmart Account password?

If you forget your account password, look for the Forgot Password link on the Login Page. Once clicked, you will receive an email with instructions for resetting the password.

4. Can I manage multiple WaterSmart Accounts?

Customers who manage multiple properties or meters can link their accounts by registering the accounts using the same email address and password.  Alternatively, a customer can log into  WaterSmart with a single registered account, click on the drop-down menu under “My Account," click on “Add Account” and enter the account number and zip code of the account to be linked.  

5. Can I add someone else to my WaterSmart Account?

The primary account holder can add additional users to their Water-Smart account.  Click on the drop-down menu under “Settings," click on “Account Settings," then scroll down to “Additional Users”.  Select the user’s role, then enter the user’s name and email.  

6. How can I customize my WaterSmart Account profile?

To improve the accuracy of your recommendations and household comparisons, customers can personalize their profile by answering specific questions about your household:  How many people live there?  How big is your yard? 

Complete your Household Profile one of two ways:

1.  On the drop-down menu of “My Account”, select “Update Occupants”

2.  Locate “My WaterScore” on your home page, select “Who am I compared to?”

7. Is my water usage data in real-time?

The data you see is “near-real-time.”  Data is transmitted to WaterSmart twice per day and usually takes a few hours to process and show on your account.  You should be able to see data from the prior 12-hour time frame.  If you have a question about how much water you are using right now, you can look at the register on your water meter.   Visit www.accgov.com/ami for more information on how to read your water meter.

8. Why can't I see my Hourly Use? Why do I see Real-Time?

When a customer is missing over 50% of their expected hourly data for the past 7 days, the Hourly View is disabled.  Instead of seeing the Hourly View heading, a customer will see Real-Time.  When this happens, a customer can no longer click on the bar to see hourly use.  Once the customer account is receiving over 50% of the expected hourly data, the Hourly View is again enabled.

To see the hourly water consumption data available in the meantime, a customer can go to "Settings" and click on "Download Data".  

It this problem persists, please contact Meter Management at 706-613-3479 to report a potential antenna issue.  

9. How do I know if I have a leak?

When you use your email to create your WaterSmart account, you are automatically entered to receive leak alerts unless you opt out of this notification.  An alert indicates an irregularly high water usage, which may have been caused by a leak or other situation, such as a person leaving a sink or hose running.  Leaks are also indicated in orange on the graph when viewing your water use.

WaterSmart offers step-by-step instructions on how to find your leak. If you need further assistance, you may need to call a plumber to help identify the cause of higher than normal usage. 

10. Can I adjust my leak alert notifications?

Customers automatically enroll in leak alerts by registering for a WaterSmart account.  To discontinue leak alerts, customers must opt out of this notification. 

• Leak alert notifications can be customized by choosing the "Settings" tab drop-down menu and selecting "Communication Preferences."  
• Under "Communication Preferences," you can select how you would prefer to receive notifications (email, text, voice), set "normal" water use for your property, and opt-in or opt-out of messages.
  
• If your property uses water continuously, tell us how much by specifying the "Gallons Per Hour" (gph) in the "Leak Alerts" section.  This amount will be considered normal for your account and will not be flagged by the leak detection system.  
• Another way to adjust the baseline for notifications is to indicate within the leak resolution process that the water use is typical for your property.  When a leak alert is received, follow the steps within the leak resolution process to indicate regular service for your home.

The leak alert notification parameters are as follows:

• Single Family Residence:  Continuous Leak alert sent when water use exceeds 3 gph for 48 hours. 
• Single Family Residence:  Burst Leak alert sent when water use exceeds 30 gph for 8 hours.
• Commercial*:  Burst Leak alert sent when water use exceeds 10 gph for 168 hours.

*Commercial Accounts:  Due to the fluctuations in water use and the needs of commercial accounts, leak notifications are sent only for suspected Burst Leaks.  ACC Public Utilities Dept. recommends commercial accounts interested in additional monitoring set "Daily Use Notifications," so if water use is higher than "normal" for your specific business, an alert is sent.

11. Why am I not getting a daily use notification anymore?

Daily Use Notifications are opt-in and initiated by the customer to set personal notification thresholds.  For both daily use and billing period Notifications, thresholds are set relative to the customer’s typical seasonal use, when available, or simply their typical use when seasonal use is not available.  Typical seasonal use is defined as the average of the last two years of data for the relevant billing period. For example, if your average use for the January billing period is 175 gallons per day, and your notification is set at 2X your normal seasonal use, then you will be notified if you use more than 350 gallons per day. Once we move into the April billing period, you will be notified if you use more than 2X your normal April use.  For customers that have less than two years of usage data, we use one year of historical data for the relevant billing period to identify their typical seasonal use. Customers with less than one year of billing history (ex. new customer) are compared to their average use up to that point in time, defined as their normal use.

A customer may receive notifications for a few days, then experience a period of time when they no longer receive notifications.  If your daily water use does not go over your normal seasonal use of your selected threshold, you will not receive a notification.  When you go over the threshold again, another notification is sent.  On days a customer is not notified of water use, the data can be accessed through your WaterSmart account.

 

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12. What is "Unplanned Water Use" notifications?

If you plan to go on vacation or have a time your house will be vacant, the "Unplanned Water Use" notification is a useful tool.  Set your account to send an alert if water use occurs while the house is empty.

Similar to how you might place a hold on your mail with the post office, you select a time period when there should be a "hold’ on your water.  Have an ice maker, auto-fill swimming pool, or self-filling pet bowl?  No problem!  Set a daily threshold for the number of gallons expected to be used.  When water use goes above this amount, you will receive an alert. 

How to set the "Unplanned Water Use" notifications:

1. Open the drop-down menu for "Settings" and select "Communication Preferences."
   
   
   
2. Scroll down to "Unplanned Use Notifications."  Click the box to turn on notifications, then select the start and end dates for the time period in which you expect no water use on your property.  If you anticipate minimal water use (ice maker, self-filling pet bowl, etc.), enter the expected number of gallons per day for the "Daily Threshold."  Select how you would like to receive notifications.
   
   
   
3. The "Unplanned Use Notification" will expire on the chosen end date or by unchecking the box for "Unplanned Use Notifications."

13. How am I being compared to other households?

You are being compared to households in the Athens-Clarke County service area with similar attributes, such as the number of occupants and irrigable area. Answering the questions in the Household Profile helps us to compare you with similar households, not necessarily your next-door neighbors. 

14. How is the number of occupants per household estimated?

The system uses property data along with information provided in the Household Profile to estimate the number of occupants in a property. The model predicts the number of occupants for each household based on property data alone. Use data is intentionally excluded in the occupant estimate. Despite being a strong predictor, doing so would skew the efficient and inefficient households to the low and high occupant bins, respectively.

Please note that if you change the number of occupants in your household through the WaterSmart system, this information is not applied to the billing side of the ACC Public Utilities Department.  If you have a change in the number of occupants in your home and would like to know if this affects your Winter Average, please contact the Water Business Office at 706-613-3500. 

15. How are Efficient and Average water use calculated?

Efficient use is generally calculated as the twentieth percentile of water use within a cohort.

Average water use is generally calculated as the median, or fiftieth percentile, of water use within a cohort.

16. Can I pay my bill online through my WaterSmart Account?

Customers may pay their water bill through WaterSmart by clicking the "Billing" tab and selecting "Payment" from the drop-down menu.  Next, choose "Pay Bill." 

Customers are redirected to Click2Gov, the payment processor for the ACC Public Utilities Department.  Customers may choose to make a one-time payment or can create a New User account to set-up auto-pay, make a partial payment, or see balances in real-time. If using this payment system for the first time, have the account number available for the initial setup or when making one-time payments.  Please note, the User ID and Password for payment are not linked to the Username and Password used for your WaterSmart account, as these are two different systems.  Customers can use credit cards to make online payments with no fees.

17. May I see my WaterSmart Account in Spanish?

Customers who want to view their WaterSmart Account in Spanish can do so with one click. There is a dropdown menu in the top right corner of the portal that lets users select their language.