LeakBird

(Feb. 6, 2009, The Chronicle-Telegram)

NORTH RIDGEVILLE — Every household in town soon will be getting a WiFi-like hook-up, but it won’t be for surfing the Web.

This technology will allow computer software in City Hall to record the amount of water used in each home, apartment and business and to quickly issue an alert about detected water leaks or tampering with meters.

Some 11,500 new water meter modules will be installed over the coming year under a $2.8 million upgrade by the city’s Water Department. The thousands of new modules and associated software are being paid for by roughly half of an anticipated 17 percent water rate hike the city is presently studying.

That increase is expected to work out to an average $4.62 monthly increase in water bills citywide, according to Mayor David Gillock. Bills are expected to rise from an average $25.88 per month in 2008 to $30.26 per month during 2009. The figures are based on 1,000 cubic feet of water usage each month.

The new equipment will be provided and installed by Badger Meter Inc., a major meter firm based in Milwaukee with which the city has authorized a contract approved this week by City Council.

“They’ll be going in homes, apartments, businesses … anywhere there’s water,” Gillock said.

The new meter modules, which will be retrofitted on top of existing meters, are expected to last much longer and perform better than the existing meters due to improved technology that should allow the meter battery packs to last 20 years. The batteries in the older meters lasted six to eight years.

Under terms of the new contract, the Milwaukee firm will replace several hundred meters throughout the city that never were converted some years ago. Badger Meter personnel will wear uniforms and carry proper identification during the year-long project, Gillock said.

“We insisted on that,’’ Gillock said. “If someone comes to the door claiming to be there for the water meter and isn’t in uniform or doesn’t have an ID, they shouldn’t be let in.”

Potentially expensive, water leaks should be reduced thanks to the City Hall software that will receive data from individual meters four to six times a day via a series of combined transmitter-receivers located throughout the city.

“An alert can be called to a customer within a day or two rather than a month,” according to Safety-Service Director Denny Johnson. “Some customers have seen bills in the $1,000 range before they realize they have a problem.”

Other cost savings should come from the eventual elimination of three part-time meter readers, one of whom is expected to be transferred to a job in the city Service Department.

Contact Steve Fogarty at 329-7146 or sfogarty@chroniclet.com.

(Original Article Here)

Related posts:

1. New York City to Install 826,000 Wireless Water Meters by 2011 (Engagdet) (March 25, 2009, Engadget) On the environmental tip, Mayor Bloomberg...
2. Double Whammy in Coshocton, Ohio: City Employee Salaries COMPLETELY Frozen and 6.5% (Industrial) Water Rate Increase (CoshoctconTribune) (Dec. 23, 2008, Coshocton Tribune) Economics were the main focus...
3. Metros and Municipalities Headed Toward Automatic Water Meters: Belle Fourche, South Dakota to Get Radio Frequency Water Meters Installed on Every Residence (RapidCityJournal) (Feb. 8, 2009, Rapid City Journal) BELLE FOURCHE — The...
4. Foster City, California Endorses Tiered Water Rate Structure: Some Households’ Bi-Monthly Water Bills will Go from $128 to $221, while Others will Decrease; Average Water Bill to Rise 10%; 60 California Cities have Implemented Some Form of Tiered Rate Structure (MercuryNews) (March 7, 2009, The Mercury News) Foster City residents who...
5. Another Double-Digit Water Rate Increase for New York City This Year, after 14.5% 2008 Increase (Reuters) (March 30, 2009, Reuters) New York City Comptroller William Thompson...