Mount Isa City Council (MICC) has been investigating technologies to help it create smarter utilities and operations for the future. To support its smart water management vision, MICC has launched a $2.3 million (AUS $3 million) advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) smart water meter program.
Mount Isa is a city located in northwest Queensland in Australia. Its remote location and hot and semi-arid climate make water a particularly valuable commodity, increasing the need for localized, sustainable water management solutions.
When deployed, the technology will accurately collect and report water consumption data, enabling customers to better manage their water usage and the council to identify leaks on customers’ properties and in the MICC water network, resulting in increased water savings for the community.
MICC appointed Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. to serve the effort as procurement lead, technical subject matter expert (SME) and smart water meter SME. Jacobs is an international technical, professional, and construction services group based in Dallas, Texas. Applying its knowledge of smart metering technologies, Jacobs is helping MICC capitalize on its investment in AMI technology. Staff morale and productivity, customer satisfaction, and informed system planning will all be facilitated by AMI.
"Our track record in delivering similar projects enabled us to develop the technical specification and evaluation criteria to meet MICC’s unique requirements," said Jason Englesmith, Global Technology Leader for Smart Metering at Jacobs. "Our customized approach, starting with the end in mind, has helped the Council to make strategic decisions to realize benefits at every step of this project."
Converting key technical requirements of AMI battery life and coverage into commercial requirements, Jacobs reduced risk and uncertainty for MICC over the 15-year battery lifecycle. Selecting the solution with the static meters with embedded long-range connectivity over the traditional mechanical meters, the company stated that it helped identify over $1 million of savings for MICC.
Following the work MICC has done with the advice Jacobs provided, the project is now approaching its deployment and implementation phase. This will see over 7,500 smart water meters installed across the MICC’s region from July 2021 to December 2021.
Mayor Danielle Slade said the project was set to be a gamechanger for Mount Isa residents. “This project is going to be a big help for us when it comes to tracking water throughout the city. We’ll be able to isolate and detect leaks a lot more easily, which will save the community both water and money in the long run.”
SOURCE: Jacobs Engineering Group
