Water AM 2009 More Fixed-Networks, Functionality and Value From Data

By: Betsy Leoff

“Conservation should be a primary focus of the water industry,” one engineer said when responding to last year’s “state-of-the-industry” survey sponsored by the American Water Works Association. If you ask players in the advanced metering business, it already is. In fact, it’s one of the primary drivers bringing water utilities to automation via fixed-network systems.

Efficiency Evolves
Efficiency has always been among the factors prompting water utilities to implement metering automation but, “Efficiency has now expanded beyond labor savings to encompass water conservation efforts, capital expense and system efficiencies,” says Tom Galuska, marketing product manager for Sensus Metering’s water and gas division.

Ken Molli, a senior consultant with McDonough Associates, echoes this view. According to him, the top reason utilities adopt water AMI is “the cost of delivering service,” which includes people in the field, equipment and infrastructure.

Two other drivers follow closely behind that motivator: “Conservation and leak detection,” Molli says. He tends to bring those two issues together and call them “water resources management.”

As Molli points out, “Water utilities don’t have unlimited sources of supply, and their next best source of supply is conservation. They’re going to have to find better ways of managing what they have.”

Molli and Morrice Blackwell, marketing manager — network meter reading solutions for Badger Meter, say that many utilities now accept an “unaccounted-for” water rate of 15 percent. A 10-percent rate of unaccounted-for water “is usually considered a pretty tight system,” Molli notes, but even that may not be acceptable in the future. Blackwell agrees that the acceptable rate for unaccounted-for water “will shrink.”

For one thing, shortages are likely to accelerate. A recent report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office claims that at least 36 states are likely to face water shortages in the next five years.

Molli adds that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has predicted “almost quadrupling costs over the next 20 years.” Much of this, he says, is due to costs surrounding wastewater treatment, which are rising because of increased purification regulations. In addition, water-system operators now have more awareness of pollutants, such as the pharmacological ones that have been identified in recent years via improved sensor technology.

From Dry To Buy?
Will these growing supply issues impact AMI sales? Probably, they will, say industry players.

Blackwell and Galuska report seeing more requests for proposals (RFPs) that specify fixed-network systems. “Even small utilities are looking at fixed networks,” Blackwell says. “They’re making the leap from manual reading to fixed systems because the prices have come down, so they can make economic sense out of paying a little more” for the extra functionality network metering delivers.

Acoustic leak detectors are popular, too. “Utilities are looking to incorporate acoustic monitoring into both drive-by and fixed-network systems,” Galuska says.

Blackwell notes that such technology is being deployed on a “lift-and-shift” basis. “You have to place about 10 devices per linear mile of pipe, and the average utility can’t afford to put them everywhere and leave them,” he explains. Instead, utilities are buying one or two dozen units, placing them on lines, finding the leaks, then moving the units to another section of the distribution system. That’s becoming a “best practice,” he says, and he expects it to become more popular.

“Getting data back to the customers” is another increasingly popular move, Molli comments. And, according to Galuska, many utilities are looking for systems that can link into a home-area network. “When I say home-area network, I’m not talking about linking to devices that shut off appliances,” he adds. “I’m talking about getting information into the consumers’ homes.”

In-home displays that show consumption data and online access to consumption data are two information technologies on the rise, says Molli. “Anything that brings customers frontal-lobe awareness about what they use and when they use it is a good thing,” he jokes.

Shut-off valves are finding their place in RFPs, too, Galuska adds. Here, again, it’s about gaining efficiency through the technology. Shut-off technology spares utilities drive time, man hours and risks associated with service disconnection.

One thing that hasn’t changed much in recent years is awareness of the dispute-settlement value in AMR and AMI. It’s been a key benefit of metering automation for years, and it continues to be a big selling feature, Blackwell notes.

“How could I use that much water? That’s the nastiest question a customer-service representative faces,” Molli explains. “If you have daily data, you can break that usage down. It goes a long way toward helping customers understand and resolve problems.” This tried-and-true benefit remains a strong driver for AMI sales.

Please contact MAI to learn more about the value of Advanced Metering Management and the services we can provide that will benefit your metering management system.

Kenneth Molli of McDonough Associates has published an article titled "Fundamentals in Advanced Metering for Water Systems". Click here to view this article.