Accountability question: Porterville authorized nearly $4.93 million for a major modernization of its water-meter system and now formally recognizes “notification-capable” technology. What notification capability was actually deployed, when did it become operational, and what happens when a possible leak or abnormal water use is detected or flagged?
Current record: The City closed PRA 26-320 on October 2, 2026. Its response reported that as of September 30 there were 9,057 fixed-network radio-read meters, 2,818 scheduled drive-by radio-read meters, and 7,917 manually read meters. PRA 26-351 later supplied 17 redacted Active Alerts reports. Those records show alert data but do not document staff review or incident-level follow-up. The City says no automatic customer leak-notification method is enabled; actual handling of individual alerts and customer outcomes remain unverified.
Status note: This is an open records investigation, not a finding of wrongdoing. PRC has not established that the City failed to notify any particular customer.
Evidence update — September 24, 2026: PRA 26-280 supplies new operational details that narrow questions this page had left open. The City now describes separate meter-level, fixed-network, staff-review, and customer-contact stages; reports current meter totals; dates staff access to Harmony leak alerts to December 4, 2023; and states that no automatic customer leak-notification method is enabled. The response does not supply current fixed-network-connected and drive-by-only counts.
October 9 evidence update: City closes alert-history records request
Active Alerts reports show system data; staff handling and customer contact remain unverified.
Case status: OPEN — INVESTIGATING Evidence label: RECORDS FOLLOW-UP CLOSED — ALERT HANDLING NOT DOCUMENTED IN RELEASED RECORDS
On October 7, Porterville released 17 redacted Active Alerts reports under PRA #26-351. They show severity, leak-level and daily-consumption information, and fields labeled Last Read Time and Last Received Date.
PRC's repaired analysis contains 14,629 report-row instances: 14,424 labeled Minor, 154 Major and 51 Critical. These are entries across the released reports, including repeated and same-date companion entries—not counts of unique leaks, meters, customers or notifications. The severity labels do not establish physical harm or staff response.
The reports do not document acknowledgment, staff review, assignment, disposition or closure. They also do not document rereads, service orders, account notes or customer-contact activity. Reading and receipt fields do not show when staff reviewed an alert or what happened afterward.
PRC therefore submitted PRA #26-363 on October 7, seeking existing September 2026 alert audit, history or activity records, maintained follow-up fields and existing field definitions. The request covered associated meter-data and customer-account systems and sought records as they existed, without requiring new matching, analysis or a custom report.
On October 9, the City said a diligent search found no records responsive to that request. It then closed the request with this statement:
“No additional records are available. The City has already provided the records in response to request 26-351.”
The released evidence does not document the requested alert-handling chain, and the City says no further responsive records are available. PRC can verify the alert data appearing in the reports and the City's records response. From those records, PRC cannot verify whether or when staff reviewed, assigned, investigated or resolved individual alerts, or contacted customers.
This is a documentation finding, not proof of operational inaction. It does not establish that employees failed to review alerts, that rereads or field work did not occur, or that customers were not contacted.
The earlier #26-252 inquiry concerned written workflow, policy and training materials and aggregate alert/notification reports; the City reported no responsive records under that request's scope. That scope differed from the later Active Alerts and activity-history inquiries, so the responses do not establish a contradiction. The separate #26-320 meter-count response, received October 2, does not establish staff follow-up or customer notification.
The targeted records follow-up is now closed. Another request repeating the same inquiry is not currently warranted. Case 002 remains OPEN — INVESTIGATING, with actual alert handling and customer outcomes unverified.
What We Know
A March 1, 2021 City purchase order documents $3,600 for Master Meter “Harmony Annual Support.”
Documented purchase order
The record establishes that Harmony support was being procured by then. The purchase order does not by itself establish that the amount was ultimately paid.
The City authorized a major fixed-network water-meter project in 2022.
Documented
The June 20 staff report and an August purchase order place the project authorization at no more than $4,932,437 and describe Master Meter 4G radio-read fixed-network infrastructure, collectors, supporting structures, and endpoint meters.
The City reported September 30 fixed-network and drive-by meter counts.
City response; closed October 2, 2026
In PRA 26-320, the City reported 9,057 fixed-network radio-read meters, 2,818 scheduled drive-by radio-read meters, and 7,917 manually read meters as of September 30, 2026. These system counts do not establish how individual alerts were handled.
A HydroPro quote priced an optional My Water Advisor customer app and portal.
Contemplated, not confirmed deployed
The May 9, 2022 quote lists an optional $8,750 “Customer Engagement Bundle” providing access to the My Water Advisor mobile app and online customer portal. In PRA 26-280, the City said it has no additional records beyond the PRA 26-251 production concerning the bundle. The record does not establish whether the option was purchased, omitted, activated, discontinued, replaced, or offered to customers.
Physical deployment work continued after the initial authorization.
Documented through 2023
An August 2022 site-walk record identifies planned base stations and repeaters. Engineering, permit, pole-foundation, and geotechnical records continued into 2023.
The City approved a written Courtesy Leak Adjustment Program in August 2026.
Documented
The program provides limited relief for qualifying leak-related high consumption and refers to automated notifications, City-issued notifications, and service locations with or without notification-capable meter technology.
Source note: PRA 26-251 purchase orders, Council materials, vendor pricing, site-walk, engineering and permit records; PRA 26-252 and PRA 26-280 written City responses; PRA 26-253 Courtesy Leak Adjustment Program packet; PRA 26-320 meter-count response; PRA 26-351 Active Alerts reports; PRA 26-363 closure response.
Timeline
A City purchase order documents Master Meter Harmony annual support.
HydroPro quotes Allegro fixed-network infrastructure, Harmony services and training, and an optional My Water Advisor customer-engagement bundle.
A Council staff report seeks authorization for a fixed-network project not to exceed $4,932,437 from the Water Replacement Fund.
The City issues a fixed-network purchase order; a project site walk identifies planned base-station and repeater locations.
Engineering, geotechnical, pole-foundation, and permitting records show that physical deployment work continued.
The City says its internal Harmony portal began providing staff access to review leak alerts.
The City approves Courtesy Leak Adjustment Program guidelines that expressly refer to automated and City-issued notifications and notification-capable meter technology.
In PRA 26-252, the City describes its current leak-response practice as a billing-review and possible field-reread process, with courtesy or best-effort customer contact.
In PRA 26-280, the City describes a mixed analog/radio-read system, says only some radio meters are fixed-network connected, and states that no automatic customer leak-notification method is currently enabled.
The City closes PRA 26-320 and reports September 30 counts of 9,057 fixed-network radio-read, 2,818 scheduled drive-by radio-read, and 7,917 manually read meters.
The City releases 17 redacted Active Alerts reports under PRA 26-351.
The City closes PRA 26-363, saying no additional responsive records are available beyond the PRA 26-351 production.
Timeline limit: These records document authorization and continuing deployment activity. They do not establish that the entire citywide fixed-network system was fully operational in 2022.
What the City Says Happens When a Leak Is Suspected
PRA 26-280 adds operational detail to the practice first described in PRA 26-252. The City's account separates four stages:
Meter/register leak detection: Movement on an analog meter's register may indicate a leak. A radio-read meter may detect potential leakage from continuous flow and may display a leak alarm on its register after 24 hours of continuous flow.
Transmission into Harmony: If a radio-read meter is connected to the fixed reading network, a leak alert may be transmitted to the City's internal Harmony portal. If it is not connected, the alert may be visible only on the register or during the scheduled monthly drive-by read, if the alert remains active.
Staff review: The City says readings are reviewed before billing and abnormal or high consumption is generally the first indicator of a possible leak. Staff may then review an individual meter in Harmony or ask meter-reading staff to inspect an analog meter. The response does not establish continuous monitoring or a push-alert process.
Customer notification: The City says a leak alert does not automatically notify the customer and no automatic customer leak-notification method is currently enabled. Staff may contact the customer by telephone or mailed correspondence as a courtesy when staffing and workload permit. No policy requires staff to make a leak notification.
PRA 26-252 separately states that an attempted contact is noted on the customer's account so staff can see the note if the customer calls back.
In response to PRA 26-252, which sought written workflow, policy and training materials and aggregate alert/notification reports, the City said it had no responsive written operational procedures or training and maintained no reports or summaries concerning suspected leaks, abnormal usage or customer notifications within that request scope. The later PRA 26-351 Active Alerts production and #26-363 activity-history request are separate records inquiries.
Important distinction: These are separate steps. A register alarm is not necessarily transmitted into Harmony; a Harmony alert is not necessarily reviewed immediately; and staff review does not itself notify the customer. PRA 26-280 does not establish that every radio meter is fixed-network connected, that staff receives a push alert, or that alerts are continuously monitored.
The Notification Question
The 2026 adjustment guidelines say a customer may become aware of a potential leak through a “City-issued or automated leak notification.” They also say customers at locations not equipped with “technology capable of providing automated leak notifications” remain eligible for relief. The application form separately lets a customer select: “Service location does not have notification-capable meter technology.”
PRA 26-280 supplies part of the missing architecture: some Master Meter radio-read meters are fixed-network connected and may transmit a leak alert to Harmony, while other radio meters rely on drive-by reading. The response still does not define the adjustment program's phrase “notification-capable meter technology” or identify which accounts fall into that category. It also states that no automatic customer leak-notification method is currently enabled; current City-issued outreach is by phone or mail and requires staff action.
Six Parts of the Leak-Notification Picture PRC Is Keeping Separate
Physical meter indicators: information visible during an on-site meter inspection.
Utility-side AMI or Harmony data: consumption or meter information available to City personnel.
Remote leak or continuous-flow alerts: system-generated indicators transmitted without a field visit.
Customer-facing notifications: a phone call, letter, email, text, app, portal, or other notice reaching the account holder.
My Water Advisor: the separately priced customer-facing app and portal identified in the 2022 quote.
The Courtesy Leak Adjustment Program: a billing-relief process after qualifying high consumption, not itself an operational leak-detection procedure.
Customer Relief
The Courtesy Leak Adjustment Program provides discretionary relief for eligible residential and commercial customers who document an unintended, repaired leak. The maximum adjustment is $500 for a residential account and $2,000 for a commercial account per approved occurrence.
The Utility Billing Supervisor administers the program, may review historical usage and billing records, and issues a written determination after receiving a complete application. The program creates a formal application and appeal record, but it does not explain how operational leak indicators are detected, reviewed, or escalated.
The relationship between the program's terms “automated leak notification” and “notification-capable meter technology” and the system described in PRA 26-280 remains ambiguous. The City says no automatic customer alert method is enabled, and the records do not establish whether the program treats fixed-network Harmony alerts as satisfying its “automated leak notification” terminology even though customer contact still requires staff action.
What We Still Don't Know
Whether the adjustment program's “notification-capable meter technology” means a fixed-network-connected radio meter or another configuration.
Whether the category classifications in earlier City responses can be reconciled with the September 30 PRA 26-320 meter counts.
How fixed-network deployment phased in before and after the December 4, 2023 staff-access date.
Whether Harmony provides push alerts or only searchable meter-level alert status; who reviews alerts, how often, and whether review occurs between billing cycles.
What alert-retention, configuration, and escalation settings are used beyond the stated 24-hour continuous-flow condition, including whether an alert can clear before a monthly drive-by read.
Whether My Water Advisor was purchased, invoiced, licensed, activated, offered, omitted, replaced, or discontinued; the City located no additional records beyond the optional quote.
What account notes, alert history, reread records, work orders, phone records, mailed notices, and adjustment records can be retrieved for a specific incident.
Records Reviewed
PRA 26-251: 25 City PDFs covering the 2021 Harmony support purchase order, 2022 Council authorization and vendor pricing, fixed-network purchase orders, site-walk materials, and later engineering and permit work.
PRA 26-252: the City's written description of its current billing-review, field-check, and courtesy customer-contact practice, including its statements about account notes and the absence of current written operational procedures or training.
PRA 26-253: the 11-page Courtesy Leak Adjustment Program guidelines and Request for Review form approved August 18, 2026.
PRA 26-280: the City's written response describing current analog/radio meter totals, fixed-network and drive-by reading paths, Harmony leak-alert access beginning December 4, 2023, discretionary phone/mail outreach, the absence of automatic customer leak notifications, and no additional My Water Advisor records.
PRA 26-320: the City response and meter-list report with fixed-network, scheduled drive-by and manually read counts as of September 30, 2026.
PRA 26-351: 17 redacted Active Alerts reports released October 7, 2026, and the repaired report-row analysis.
PRA 26-363: the October 9 City response closing the request for existing September alert activity/history records and maintained follow-up fields.
See the Case 002 source references. The complete PRA productions are preserved in PRC's private evidence archive; public source-file links will be added only after a publication and privacy review.
Current Status
OPEN — INVESTIGATING: The City has answered and closed the meter-count request, #26-320, and released Active Alerts reports under #26-351. It closed the targeted September alert activity/history request, #26-363, on October 9, saying no additional responsive records are available beyond those reports. The released records do not document the requested alert-handling chain. Actual staff follow-up and customer outcomes remain unverified; the records gap does not establish that no action or contact occurred. The case's remaining implementation and notification questions stay open.