The Connector - Spring 2008 - (Page 25)

RWAU Spring 2008 Meter Reading by Radio Communication Terry Smith, Southern Circuit Rider Are your water meters talking to you? If not, they soon might be! s with everything else these days, it seems that the lowly water meter is entering the high tech age. Ten or so years ago, meters started showing up with a touch pad attached to the meter by a wire. This pad would be mounted into the lid, allowing the meter reader to simply set an electronic reading device (commonly referred to as a “wand”) on the pad. Then, by pushing a button, the wand would communicate with the meter via the touch pad. The meter ID and meter reading would be transmitted to the wand, which could then either be read via a display by the meter reader, or if you were really high tech, transmitted to a handheld computer which would store the meter reading into the correct account as verified by the meter ID. At the end of the meter route, the reader would take the handheld computer into the office, attach it to the billing computer and upload (or download—depending on your perspective) the meter data, and then transfer the next route back into the handheld. The meter software that resided on the billing computer would then export the data in a format that the billing software could import into its records. If all went well, meter reading and data entry errors were greatly reduced. That is, if all went well, which, with any new technology, all seldom does. About the same time, there was an even newer whiz-bang technology in the form of radio reading. The problem with the touch pad is, though the meter reader saved time because he or she didn’t have to open the lid and read the meter by sight, they still had to walk the route from meter to meter. Add in a winter snow storm or two, and the task of reading the meters sometimes became an impossibility. So the allure of radio read meters! What if you didn’t have to walk from A meter to meter? What if you could read the meters from the comfort of your vehicle (or even your office), without even having to locate the meter box? Seemed too good to be true back then, and in many ways it was; battery life, broadcast power, water intrusion into the radio, and frequency problems were all challenges that manufacturers had to overcome. But, as with most electronics devices today, over time they have gotten better, more reliable, and even cheaper! Manufacturers today also offer other goodies that weren’t around back then: leak and backflow detection, historical usage retention and other offerings make radio read meters a tempting purchase. But, before you jump at the chance to go to high tech meter reading, take some time to consider the overall costs before investing the thousands of dollars needed to setup a full blown system: • How old are most of your meters? If 20 years or more, now might be a good time to consider upgrading with radio, since you are approaching the end of the recommend meter life anyway. But if most are fairly recent, and can’t be upgraded easily, it may be tough to justify. Check around though; you might be able to sell the newer ones to another system. • How often do you read meters, and would it be advantageous to read them more often? If you are currently reading meters only during the summer months, say 3 to 4 times per year, then your labor costs may not justify the radio system. But if you read monthly, or you can see that you could benefit from reading more often—such as lowering more consistent bills, or reducing consumption by catching leaks or excessive usage earlier—then your 25 labor costs will need to be adjusted when calculated toward a radio system purchase. • Can your current meters be upgraded to radio? Many of the meters made in the last 10 years can. • Talk to the manufacturer about battery life. If you’re going to have to start replacing the batteries in 10 or so years, you need to be sure that your savings—whether it is labor, conservation, or a combination of both—has saved you enough to pay for itself up to that point. • What will the cost of installation be? The old meters need to be removed and the new ones put in place. Can you do this by utilizing your own labor force? Or will you need to contract this out? Also, you will most likely end up replacing some of the older meters setters (or the whole darn service) in the process, and some of those old galvanized yolk type setters will break, or valves will refuse to shut down. Make sure you figure on some excavation costs in the planning process. If, after crunching the numbers you decide to take the jump and invest in a radio system, consider the following: • Shop around. Get at least two bids, but make sure that the meters you are purchasing will work within your system. For example, if you have problems with sand from your continued on page 27 The Connector

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of The Connector - Spring 2008

The Connector - Spring 2008 Table of Contents President's Message Executive Director's Comments Letters From Readers Legislative Update RWAU Board and Staff Rural Water News Bees on the Pipeline, Jim Watts How Important are our Public Works People? Curtis Ludvigson A "What" Protection Plan? Erin Borger Meter Reading by Radio Communication, Terry Smith Advanced Distribution, Chuck Jeffs Where in Utah?

The Connector - Spring 2008

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