Over the past nine years, the Roslyn Water District has instituted a system of installing computerized remote meters, a piece of technology designed to make meter reading more efficient and less costly.

According to water district officials, up to 90 percent of the homes in the Village of Roslyn already have the meters. The water district thinks the new meters are beneficial enough that the remaining 10 percent or so should have them also.

Recently, The Roslyn News has received calls from local residents claiming that the new meters will become mandatory and that the cost for installing them is up to $5,000, a total to be paid for by the homeowner.

Jack Russo, commissioner of the water district, said that this isn't the case, especially the concerns about installation costs. However, he admitted that if residents don't respond to voluntary installations, the water district might make them mandatory.

The new meters are mandatory if the water district deems the current meter to be outdated. If a house in the water district is without a basement, then a meter pit installation may be required. Failure to remove an outdated meter may mean a disconnection of water services.

Furthermore, homeowners don't pay for the installation of the new meters. The district puts them in free of charge, Mr. Russo added. But if water district personnel run into real difficulties in putting in the meter, then the customer has to first make the internal repairs so that those same people can do the job for free.

Obviously, the new, computerized remote meters have proved popular among Roslyn residents. Mr. Russo calls the new meters, a "wonderful thing" something that has been helpful to both residents and the water district. For the water district, the meters reduce overhead costs, while homeowners no longer have to put up with the nuisance of meter readers coming into their residences.

In addition to Roslyn, the water district serves Roslyn Estates, East Hills and portions of Roslyn Heights, Roslyn Harbor, Flower Hill and North Hills. Last spring, the water district took the title of best tasting tap water in Nassau County at the 14th annual contest sponsored by the Long Island Water Conference, a professional organization of Nassau-Suffolk public water suppliers.