The radio frequency (RF) technology that revolutionized the water utility industry in the 1990s and 2000s made automatic meter reading (AMR) easier than ever before, making a process that took weeks on foot possible within days using a mobile, drive-by method. It also improved safety for meter reading personnel, freeing them from walking busy streets, dealing with homeowners’ dogs, and even from entering vaults or basements to obtain readings.
In the early-to-mid 2000s, metering technology continued to evolve beyond basic reading and billing functions. Fixed network collectors were added to the mix, providing for meter readings without the need to roll a truck, as well as enabling the transmission of meter readings multiple times per day. The collection of more data, more frequently led to the next metering frontier, Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI).
Today’s innovative AMR and AMI systems have advanced to the point where the better name might be “AMR-to-AMI” systems. That’s because metering technology such as that found in Neptune Technology Group’s R900 Systems is providing water utilities tools that not only make it easy to track water consumption and capture non-revenue water, but also migrate from walk-by to mobile to fixed network data collection without stranding assets in the field.
Phasing in Routes for Remote Readings
In western Pennsylvania, in 2011, assistant manager Tom Ceraso decided to move the Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County toward an R900 AMR system in part because of its ready flexibility in terms of both migration and function, with a focus on compatibility with a mixed meter population, the ability to collect readings quickly and accurately, and ease of transferring data to existing billing software.
The Authority had the freedom and the ability to phase in mobile reading alongside other manual routes, all within the same system. In a matter of months, it went from walking manual routes to running an RF-based metering system that allows it to go far beyond basic meter reading and billing.
Currently, the Authority is investigating the placement of a fixed network data collector within a borough containing a large number of RF-equipped encoder registers. Ceraso mentions how targeted fixed network data collection would be ideal for hard-to-access accounts, such as gated commercial and industrial customers. In all these applications, the meters, encoders, RF meter interface units (MIUs), and host soft-ware remain the same, allowing for a seamless transition without stranding existing assets.
The system is proving its versatility with regard to functionality, too, in pressure zones in a lot of hilly areas. “We also have demand areas where we want to look at how much water we’re pumping compared to what we’re billing,” adds Ceraso. “We’re starting to coordinate changeouts [in these places] for RF saturation, so that we can drive through and discover non-revenue water in a short period of time instead of every 90 days.”
Ceraso likes what he has seen, and anticipates even more benefits in the future: “The installation of this technology will have a spin-off effect throughout every department across the Authority because of the efficiencies it’s going to create.”
A Smooth Transition at a Utility’s Chosen Pace
By the late 2000s, the water meters in the Town of Fort Erie, Ontario, Water Distribution System had reached the end of their lifecycle. Accuracy was a problem, and having to hire a third party to manually probe each residence added to the inefficiency. At one point, a single meter tech was tasked with addressing nearly 1,200 outstanding work orders. Even with a limited budget and resources, Grant Boutin, the Town’s manager of water and wastewater services, knew he had to move his utility forward, but at Fort Erie’s own pace.
For Fort Erie, the large-scale changeout of every meter from manual to RF reading could have been intimidating, but with a migratable system, it wasn’t necessary to do everything at once. Since 2009, Boutin and his team have implemented “a geographic sweep of the town, contracting out 1,000 installations each year, with an additional 300 done in-house for areas that fall outside a ‘zone’ that present problems for readers.”
Boutin found that the right system selection made the move to AMR easy, smooth, and affordable for Fort Erie. “It’s enabled us to phase in our system over time,” he says.
Boutin looks forward to migrating to a fully mobile system using a mobile data collector in the next few years. It will collect information—including 96 days of historical consumption data—from the same endpoints, while still allowing for the use of handhelds as backup. And while the migratable system protects the Town’s existing assets, the move to a totally mobile system will empower Fort Erie to perform its own meter readings without the need for a third-party contractor. This alone will net a savings of $100,000.
In the meantime, the Town is enjoying how fast, accurate data has streamlined operations. “Our being responsive to our customers in a timely fashion—that’s huge for us,” says Boutin.
A Backward-Compatible Fixed Network
The Public Works Utilities (PWU) of Billings, MT, began implementing radio frequency-transmitting MIUs in May 2003, using handhelds first and then a mobile data collector to get the meter readings. In a short period of time, Billings no longer needed its two full-time reading positions.
In 2012, the City added fixed network data collectors to its existing metering system to collect multiple meter readings every day and help customers who might have leaks or excessive water consumption. With installation of these fixed network collectors nearly complete, the PWU can already collect 94% of its readings without rolling a truck.
The same has applied to off-cycle reads. “When a tenant moves out and the water goes back under the landlord’s name, we used to have to roll out a truck,” says field supervisor Mark Holmes. “We don’t anymore, and that’s saved us 50 work orders a month.”
It’s not just for the regular meter readings that Billings is saved from having to send out utility vehicles.
The transition to fixed network has been very smooth, with technology that is backward-compatible with different types of reading methods. The installed fixed collectors work just as easily with the PWU’s host software, encoders, and MIUs as the mobile data collectors and the handheld units that came before. In fact, personnel still use mobile reading as a backup method in case a collector goes down or to double-check RF signals before leaving an MIU installation site.
And although the focus of migrating to fixed network reading has been to roll fewer service trucks and improve customer service, the City has nonetheless cut the number of hours per week it reads by half, from 12 to just six.
What’s next for the Public Works Utilities’ AMR/AMI system? “After we add the last fixed collector, we’ll continue fine tuning, so that we’ll be able to read every meter through the fixed network,” says division manager Dwile Weagel. As part of those efforts, he’s eager to install more powerful, 1-watt MIUs to address hard to read applications.
Conclusion
As proven by the Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County, PA; the Town of Fort Erie, Ontario Water Distribution System; and the Publics Works Utilities of Billings, MT, today’s water utilities have more options when it comes to both selecting and expanding upon an automatic meter reading system. First, they can choose which components of a metering system to implement, at their own pace. This flexibility gives them confidence that the system they put in place today will not be obsolete in the near future, while providing the added convenience of backward compatibility, too, when needed.
They also can migrate their system forward, building onto existing assets whenever they’re ready to do so, with innovative enhancements designed to work seamlessly with investments they’ve made.
With additional features and expanded functionality, water utilities can mix and match AMR with AMI technologies according to their unique requirements, so that it all works together under a united software platform. Which of the system’s enhanced features a utility chooses to deploy, as well as when, can be purely business decisions as needs change over time.
