EDT 661 Field Trip

Welcome to the Oshkosh Water Distribution Center

The Water Utility Provides safe drinking water to every citizen and business in Oshkosh Water is distributed through over 300 miles of pipes Water plant treats over one billion gallons of water each year Generates revenue of over $11 million dollars each year

Five women work in the front office, serving the needs of the public, fielding questions and generating bills

Work stations are equipped with HP desktop computers hooked up to a server network.

Printing is available through a copy machine which also provides fax and scan capabilities

Programmers The city is 50% complete in updating their meter reading technology. Half the system has a walk by/drive by system which allows the utility to read meters and determine usage by receiving electronic meter readings to handheld devices

Server The other 50% of the city’s meters have been upgraded to endpoints whose transmitters broadcast multiple readings each day to collectors stationed on two water towers that then relay those readings via fiber optic cable to the server located at the water utility building.

This new meter reading technology operates on its own frequency that the vendor has a national license for. This privately owned frequency eliminates interference. This new technology greatly expands the broadcast range eliminating the necessity for an employee to drive by/walk by the meter to obtain a reading.

The computers are replaced every five years Obtained through a bid process according to the IT departments specifications The copier/ printer/scanner/fax is leased, toner and maintenance is included in the lease The meter reading system was chosen from the respondents of a request for proposal (similar to a bid process but not lowest bid wins-proposals are examined and reviewed, Oshkosh chooses best fit) Handheld readers are scheduled to be phased out over the next three years. Currently looking at adding a 3 rd collector on top of city hall to improve the reliability of the system

Thank you for visiting the water utility! They don’t get many visitors!