Ebert Metropolitan is a Colorado metro district; a quasi-governmental taxing entity, distinct from a typical HOA, that manages 253 homes that share water meters. For over a decade, the district received 73 combined water bills from Denver Water and simply split the total evenly across each of the 253 homes, regardless of how much water any one household actually used. Residents were unhappy with this way of allocating the bill, and asked the district management team to find a solution.
After deploying SimpleSUB Water, the district can bill each home for its actual usage, giving both single-occupant households and larger families a fair, transparent bill for the first time.
Customer Profile
- Property: Ebert Metropolitan
- Type: Metro district (quasi-governmental taxing district)
- Location: Denver area, Colorado
- Homes: 253 homes
- Interviewees: District Manager Sabrina Lopez and District Administrator Veronica Rodriguez, with Goodwin & Company
The Problem: One Bill, Split Evenly Among 253 Very Different Households
Because the community was built on shared water meters, homeowners never received individual water bills. They received an even split of the total, no matter how much or how little they actually used.
"It's come up throughout the board from all the homeowners: ‘my bill's too high, why am I paying this much?’ Some of the shared meters run off six homes, some run off four. Some families have two people, some have six. And yet we were splitting the bill equally." — Sabrina Lopez, District Manager
This wasn't a new problem; homeowners had lived with it for as long as the community had existed. The majority of residents felt they were subsidizing their neighbors’ water use, and were frustrated to have to pay unexpectedly high bills that they had no control over.
The Solution: A Clear Rollout Plan and a Local Install Partner
Veronica and Sabrina got competitive bids and brought a recommendation to the board. What stood out in the SimpleSUB presentation was a clear plan: scope, expectations, and a timeline the board could actually vote on.
"You did a really good job of preparing us for what this whole process looks like, what the expectations were, what percentage of submeters we needed to get installed before we can start billing... made it really easy and simple for us to understand." — Sabrina Lopez, District Manager
Installation was coordinated directly with the community's existing landscape company, whose irrigation techs were already familiar with the property. Most installs took 5–15 minutes; a handful needed extra plumbing work.
"Installation was fast. Some of the installs took only 5 minutes... homeowners were like, 'Wow, this was really quick. This is cool. We could have done this a long time ago.'" — Veronica Rodriguez, District Administrator
SimpleSUB handles billing directly, sending individual invoices to homeowners. This took the administrative burden off the management team entirely.
The rollout itself was staged deliberately: a "mock bill" month in September shows homeowners what their real number would have been, before the switch to live individual billing in October. That gives residents roughly 30 days of advance warning to catch and fix a problem, such as a leak or an oversized bill, before it counts.
"Most of our homeowners are going to be very appreciative when they get a bill for their actual usage. However, we wanted to give the homeowners who are overusing a chance to understand their usage and course correct before they get an individualized bill.” — Sabrina Lopez
Results: Fairer Bills, Advance Warnings, and Less Admin Work
Rather than waiting for a surprise bill, homeowners can now see their own usage and leak data through the portal and receive email or SMS alerts directly if the system flags a leak or high usage.
"We can go into the portal and see which units have high usage or are labeled ‘leak-detected’. We're able to warn the owner and let them know: this is what's going on, and what we could do to fix it." — Veronica Rodriguez
Denver Water will also credit homeowners who can verify they made a repair after an alert, giving residents both the warning and a financial incentive to act on it.
Both interviewees said they'd strongly recommend SimpleSUB, especially to other communities built on shared meters looking to save on infrastructure costs, and those with bungalow or patio-style townhome developments.
"I'd absolutely recommend SimpleSUB. The amount of customer service and care we received from the team was certainly above and beyond... it made the process so simple and easy to understand for something that is truly a very difficult situation." — Sabrina Lopez
Give Every Home a Fair Water Bill
Ebert Metropolitan moved away from a decade-old flat split and toward individual, usage-based water billing with a rollout designed to give homeowners advance notice.
If your community is on shared water meters and looking for a fairer way to bill, schedule a demo to see how SimpleSUB Water can help.
See what your property could recover
Owners recover 95%+ of water costs with clamp-on submeters — no plumbers, no Wi‑Fi, installed in minutes.
