Faulty water meters have caused more than $8 million in damages to the town of Davie, a recently filed lawsuit claims.
The town is suing Mueller Water Products and Ferguson Enterprises over a 2018 contract to supply and install 10,031 meters built by Mueller and to implement what the suit calls an “advanced metering infrastructure.”
The system was described by Ferguson, the lawsuit says, as “backed by innovation and superior local service that is critical to your goals of improving the meter reading process, increasing billing accuracy, satisfying the customer’s expectations and gaining overall system control.”
The system was supposed to enable the town to read meters and handle shut-offs and resumptions remotely, the suit states.
As of January, 3,106 of the Mueller meters have failed, the town said. Issues cited in the lawsuit include meters failing to read, meters turning off, meters failing to communicate with the system, hardware failures, software failures, long lead time for meter replacements, and failure of the data transfer file.
The town said it has incurred more than $8 million in damages as “the Mueller AMI System continues to fail.”
Town administrators and attorneys representing the town declined to comment on the suit or provide additional information about the losses it cites.
“We are not commenting as the complaint speaks for itself,” said Eric Mcaliley, partner with Boca Raton-based Lydecker LLP.
Phillip Holste, assistant town administrator, replied, “The Town does not comment regarding ongoing litigation.”
Neither Erik Neudorff nor Richard Barry of GrayRobinson P.A., listed in the Broward County Court docket as representing Ferguson Enterprises, returned an email seeking comment about the case.
And Mueller Water Products did not immediately respond to an email to its media relations office in Atlanta. The case docket does not note appearances by attorneys for Mueller Water Products.
The town originally filed its lawsuit on Jan. 2 in Broward County Circuit Court. On March 14, it was transferred to U.S. District Court in Fort Lauderdale. The defendants have not yet filed a response to the town’s claims.
The lawsuit claims that Ferguson, as the project’s prime contractor, agreed to provide 100% warranty coverage for “component failures over 2% annually” for up to 10 years.
The town also requested additional warranty coverage for the meters’ bodies, electronic registers and transceivers after their two-year manufacturers’ warranties expired, according to the complaint.
The lawsuit charges both defendants with breach of contract and breach of warranty. It also accuses Ferguson of negligent misrepresentation for making “false statements of material fact regarding the efficiency and quality” of the system it installed.
The lawsuit claims that Ferguson breached the contract by failing to furnish, install and service the advanced metering infrastructure system “that was the subject of the contract.”
In addition, it failed to honor its warranties despite the town providing “continuous notice of the issues” to Ferguson, the town claims.
“The defects in the meters and the system existed at the time of the contract,” the suit says. “To date, Ferguson has not been able to repair the defects.”
Mueller also agreed to repair or replace any software containing an error or provide a prorated refund and terminate the contract, the suit says.
The complaint alleges that Mueller breached the contract by failing to provide equipment, software, documentation and other items “related to advanced metrology infrastructure systems that are free of defect and in good working order.”
According to a copies of contracts and a resolution by the town council that were included as exhibits to the complaint, the town agreed to spend $3.95 million for the installation and $71,066 annually in service fees.
The town is seeking monetary damages, interest, and other such relief that the court deems just and proper.
Mueller Water Products has faced accusations of product failure from other customers in recent years.
In 2019, shareholders filed a class action suit against the company, claiming they suffered stock-price losses after Mueller disclosed it would take additional warranty charges on products it sold. The lawsuit noted issues with water meter systems the company installed in Missouri and California.
Mueller denied the charges, and the suit was eventually dismissed after a judge agreed that the plaintiffs had pleaded their charges incorrectly.
In 2023, a utility system in Harris County, Texas, filed a lawsuit with allegations similar to Davie’s, and added that the sales representative for Mueller failed to disclose the company’s knowledge of “widespread problems with the defendant’s meters in locations all across America.”
The company has denied the allegations and the lawsuit is still pending.
Ron Hurtibise covers business and consumer issues for the South Florida Sun Sentinel. He can be reached by phone at 954-356-4071 or by email at rhurtibise@sunsentinel.com.
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