By David Jenkins

Staff Writer

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Residents now have a way to keep track of their water usage.

The city of Murphy recently rolled out a tracking system named Aquahawk, a free service that uses radio transmitters installed on water meters.

The program allows people to view their water consumption during the current billing cycle, estimate what the water bill would be at any point during the cycle, and set an alert that will send a text, email or phone call when either a set threshold of usage is reached or when the estimated bill reaches a certain dollar amount.

“This is a great asset for residents and gives them the ability monitor their water usage,” Customer Services Manager Candy McQuiston said. “They can see where the water is being used. If there is a leak they will be notified via text message and they can have it fixed. You can also set up a threshold, for example $150, and once that is reached they will be notified.”

If there is a suspected water leak the system will contact the resident and gives them a warning on a potential problem.

Aquahawk also has the feature to compare similar sized homes to see is the residents usage is within a certain range. They can also change preferences at any point.

Residences will receive a flyer in their April bill further explaining what the program is all about.

So far 88 people have signed up for the program.

McQuiston expects that number to rise once the warmer weather months arrive.

For full story see the Murphy Monitor at http://www.etypeservices.com/Murphy%20MonitorID247/default.aspx