For years, reading Calistoga’s water meters has required a full week in the field — a process repeated six times a year. That routine is about to end. Calistoga expects to finish installing smart-meter technology at 1,666 homes and businesses within city limits in about a month, allowing the city to collect water-use data remotely instead of sending crews out to manually read each meter. The city’s old meter-reading system dates back at least 40 years and operates with turbine fans inside the meters. At most properties, the upgrade will replace the reading device on the existing meter. About 85 locations will require a full meter replacement. “This will bring us, to be honest, to the point of delivering us into this century,” Councilmember Lisa Gift said. The new technology will allow city staff to access meter data from the office. “We’d have a full crew taking a full week to go out and read them, and we need these readings six times a year,” said Brandon Gray, the city's maintenance superintendent. “My hope is this technology will also detect leaks on the property.” The system can identify water-use patterns that may indicate a leak, allowing the city and customers to catch problems that might otherwise go unnoticed. City officials say the estimated $575,000 project will reduce staff time spent reading meters while helping identify water loss. Calistoga, which primarily purchases its water from Napa through an aqueduct agreement, averages about 10 units of water use per customer each month. At 748 gallons per unit, that amounts to roughly 7,480 gallons. Once installation is complete, water customers will receive logins allowing them to monitor their own water use. The city contracted with Arizona-based Phoenix Water Solutions to handle the installation. Metron, based in Boulder, Colorado, provides the software used to