Gloucester County’s Public Utilities Department is in the process of launching its first phase of new technology to make collecting water meter readings safer, faster and more efficient.

The department, which has been using touch-read technology, is moving toward a more advanced radio-read technology, so utilities workers do not have to make as many exits and entrances onto major thoroughfares.

According to Director of Public Utilities Chris Dawson, the new technology will also save staff time devoted to reading meters each month and instead divert those hours toward much-needed repairs and replacements throughout the utilities system. “It’s a win-win for both our residents and the county government,” Dawson said. “We won’t be pulling in and out of busy highways—putting our employees and other drivers at risk—and we will be using rate-payer dollars more productively.”

The first phase of the project is taking place along George Washington Memorial Highway, Guinea, Tidemill and...