Portland Water District launches new billing and asset management systems

The Portland Water District launched new billing, customer service, and asset management systems last  week. The integrated systems offer an improved user experience, real-time payment processing, more payment options, and better back office workflow and process management. The asset management system fully integrated with GIS is better equipped to track PWD’s 250,000+ assets  and able to deliver better preventative maintenance capabilities. With the conversion, new account numbers have been issued and the paper bill was redesigned to be easier to read.

The new online account management and bill pay service maintains popular features including:

• View and pay online with a credit/debit card or e-check
• Payment method options including one time payments, scheduled payments, and autopay.

• Conveniently and securely stored payment information using Payment Card Industry (PCI) Compliant Systems
• Pay by Phone 24/7

The new system provides additional payment options like Pay by Text and capabilities to continue expanding offerings. With Pay by Text, customers can receive text messages a bill is due with the option to pay via text.

“I am so proud of our implementation teams and all our staff for embracing and supporting the projects.  It wasn’t easy to persevere through the challenges of a global pandemic, but we did,” stated General Manager Carrie Lewis.

The new software suite replaces technology that was initially implemented 26 and 17 years ago. The Portland Water District hired a consultant in 2016 to assess the reliability and adaptability of our current systems, and it was determined the technology needed to be replaced to continue to modernize and keep pace with hardware advancements.