From Manual to Automated Meter Reading (AMR) Daniel Christodoss, Ph.D., P.E. Asset Manager and Texas Utilities East Design & Construction Manager Water Sustainability Session I Presentation at the 15TH Annual Energy Utility and Environmental Conference, Phoenix, AZ, Jan 30 TO Feb 1 2012

Diversified Water Utilities & Why AMR? Hazards to Meter Reader Presentation Outline Diversified Water Utilities & Why AMR? Hazards to Meter Reader Manual Meter Drawbacks Automatic RF Meters AMR Benefits & Desired Features Vendor Evaluation and Objective Project Tracking & Completion

Texas Utilities-Southwest Water Company 106 Water and 15 Wastewater plants (conventional and membrane) 27 MGD Groundwater: 249 wells & 7 MGD Surfacewater ~ 40,000 customers Plants near: San Antonio, Austin, Houston, Dallas-Fort Worth, Tyler, Livingston, Sherman and Tenkiller, OK 33 Counties: Prairies and Lakes, Piney Woods, Gulf Coast, South Texas Plains and Hill Country

Diversified Utilities Map Sherman 38,319 Manual Meters 3.5 Billion Gallons of Water Metered Annually $18M revenue from water consumption Annual Meter Reader Salary $800,000 (22 meter readers) Data Entry Operators Annual Salary $250,000 (5 operators) Transportation $117,000 (9 vehicles) CHALLENGES: Topography Distance Alleys/backyards Hazards Tyler Dallas-Ft Worth AUSTIN HOUSTON Here’s a profile of TX Utilties in relation to distribution of our systems and the $s we spend annually on manual meter reading. Hazards are high and challenges abound from hill country in the regions of Austin, San Antonio and Granbury to low meter density neighborhoods in hard to access backyard alleys all across the DFW and Houston regions. We spend about $1 million annually on the meter reading program, but there are hazards and challenges that could trend to a higher value. San Antonio

Meter Reading Hazards @ TXUG (OTSH) Biohazard along meter route Meter Reader We require our meter readers to risk their lives by having to walk through overgrown vegetation which is a habitat for wild animals. This is an incident that occurred just a few weeks back in Granbury and represents a typical problem we face daily, all across Texas.

Meter Reading Hazards @ TXUG (OTSH) Dogs, Electric Fences, Guns…. Attempted Robbery and Shooting of a meter reader in Lakeland, FL: Aug, 2009 Homeowner opened fire on meter reader, Dallas, TX: 2009 “The Rottweiler doesn't bite”! We require our meter readers to risk their lives by having to walk through overgrown vegetation which is a habitat for wild animals. This is an incident that occurred just a few weeks back in Granbury and represents a typical problem we face daily, all across Texas.

Manual Metering Drawbacks Laborious (back injuries, trips, falls) Transcription Errors Biological and Physical Hazards High O&M (labor, gas, disputes) No consumption history Cannot detect customer leaks Water Theft Undeterred High meter reader turnover

Texas Utilities-Southwest Water Company 106 Water and 15 Wastewater plants (conventional and membrane) 27 MGD Groundwater: 249 wells & 7 MGD Surfacewater ~ 40,000 customers Plants near: San Antonio, Austin, Houston, Dallas-Fort Worth, Tyler, Livingston, Sherman and Tenkiller, OK 33 Counties: Prairies and Lakes, Piney Woods, Gulf Coast, South Texas Plains and Hill Country 8

Diversified Utilities Map Sherman 38,319 Manual Meters 3.5 Billion Gallons of Water Metered Annually $18M revenue from water consumption Annual Meter Reader Salary $800,000 (22 meter readers) Data Entry Operators Annual Salary $250,000 (5 operators) Transportation $117,000 (9 vehicles) CHALLENGES: Topography Distance Alleys/backyards Hazards Tyler Dallas-Ft Worth AUSTIN HOUSTON Here’s a profile of TX Utilties in relation to distribution of our systems and the $s we spend annually on manual meter reading. Hazards are high and challenges abound from hill country in the regions of Austin, San Antonio and Granbury to low meter density neighborhoods in hard to access backyard alleys all across the DFW and Houston regions. We spend about $1 million annually on the meter reading program, but there are hazards and challenges that could trend to a higher value. San Antonio 9

Texas Utilities-Southwest Water Company 106 Water and 15 Wastewater plants (conventional and membrane) 27 MGD Groundwater: 249 wells & 7 MGD Surfacewater ~ 40,000 customers Plants near: San Antonio, Austin, Houston, Dallas-Fort Worth, Tyler, Livingston, Sherman and Tenkiller, OK 33 Counties: Prairies and Lakes, Piney Woods, Gulf Coast, South Texas Plains and Hill Country 10

Diversified Utilities Map Sherman 38,319 Manual Meters 3.5 Billion Gallons of Water Metered Annually $18M revenue from water consumption Annual Meter Reader Salary $800,000 (22 meter readers) Data Entry Operators Annual Salary $250,000 (5 operators) Transportation $117,000 (9 vehicles) CHALLENGES: Topography Distance Alleys/backyards Hazards Tyler Dallas-Ft Worth AUSTIN HOUSTON Here’s a profile of TX Utilties in relation to distribution of our systems and the $s we spend annually on manual meter reading. Hazards are high and challenges abound from hill country in the regions of Austin, San Antonio and Granbury to low meter density neighborhoods in hard to access backyard alleys all across the DFW and Houston regions. We spend about $1 million annually on the meter reading program, but there are hazards and challenges that could trend to a higher value. San Antonio 11

Manual Metering Drawbacks Laborious (back injuries, trips, falls) Transcription Errors Biological and Physical Hazards High O&M (labor, gas, disputes) No consumption history Cannot detect customer leaks Water Theft Undeterred High meter reader turnover 12

Meter Reading Hazards @ TXUG (OTSH) Biohazard along meter route Meter Reader We require our meter readers to risk their lives by having to walk through overgrown vegetation which is a habitat for wild animals. This is an incident that occurred just a few weeks back in Granbury and represents a typical problem we face daily, all across Texas. 13

Meter Reading Hazards @ TXUG (OTSH) Dogs, Electric Fences, Guns…. Attempted Robbery and Shooting of a meter reader in Lakeland, FL: Aug, 2009 Homeowner opened fire on meter reader, Dallas, TX: 2009 “The Rottweiler doesn't bite”! We require our meter readers to risk their lives by having to walk through overgrown vegetation which is a habitat for wild animals. This is an incident that occurred just a few weeks back in Granbury and represents a typical problem we face daily, all across Texas. 14

Benefits of AMR Quick (data acquired remotely during drive by-5 days vs 4 hrs) Meter data communicated by Radio Frequency—no manual meter reading No need to access the meter box during routine drive by, except in unique situations Lower O&M (labor and disputes) 1 hr Consumption history can be extracted to respond to disputes Can detect customer leaks and help identify water theft Lower meter reader turnover Streamline high bill investigations 15

Automatic RF Meters ANTENNA RADIO BATTERIES IMPELLER Quick Remote Safe Accurate Automated 1 hr Consumption History + Vandal & Leak Alerts ANTENNA RADIO BATTERIES IMPELLER

RF used for everything else, why not for AMR Technologies that depend on radio waves: AM and FM radio broadcasts Cordless phones Garage door openers Radio-controlled toys Television broadcasts Cell phones GPS receivers Satellite communications Police radios Wireless clocks Radar and microwave ovens Communication and navigation satellites Modern aviation Wireless Internet access Radio waves are electromagnetic, part of the light spectrum and travel at a speed of 186,282 miles per second—the speed of light Guglielmo Marconi built the 1st Radio Transmitter in 1895

Automatic Meters (win-win situation) Promotes Water Conservation & Remote Secure Data Acquisition Remote Access We’ll show the spread of our water and wastewater systems across TX and highlight the challenges we face currently in our manual meter reading program with a photograph of a typical biological hazard which our meter readers face routinely. Next we’ll talk about the first step in our automatic meter reading project, evaluating the vendors and various technologies to address our current challenges. Update on vendor technical presentations, a short discussion of how the various technologies work and technology issues or limitations we have to address before implementation. We have generated a list of our preferred AMR features. Finally we’ll show our schedule which includes an RFP and Pilot prior to vendor selection. 5.5 month consumption history stored in the meter for dispute resolution

Benefits of AMR Quick (data acquired remotely during drive by-5 days vs 4 hrs) Meter data communicated by Radio Frequency—no manual meter reading No need to access the meter box during routine drive by, except in unique situations Lower O&M (labor and disputes) 1 hr Consumption history can be extracted to respond to disputes Can detect customer leaks and help identify water theft Lower meter reader turnover Streamline high bill investigations

Desired AMR Features Read remotely under submerged conditions Integrate continuous leak detection and retrievable consumption history Use vandal deterrent technologies in unlicensed frequency Be one-piece, integrated unit with no exposed wiring to look similar to a manual meter Fixed network AMI preferred, but Mobile AMR considered in analysis Highlighted in this slide are some of the AMR features we would like to see in the selected technology. Itron and Datamatic are the only ones that have all the features reflected on this slide. Next we will highlight our schedule.

Technologies Evaluated Four AMR Technologies 1. Walk-by with Handheld 2. Drive-by with Laptop 3. AMR: One way Fixed network Periodic Data Transmission one way from Meter to SWWC 4. AMI: Two way Fixed network Data-Reports Transmission to SWWC SWWC commands to meter We have been open to fully automated as well as partially automated technologies because in reality we may find that the fixed network is not compatible with all of our systems spread out throughout the state. Our systems are diverse. Some with significant changes in elevation in the hill country region and some with low meter density in a rural environment. Therefore, a combination of technologies may be more feasible than a one size fits all approach.

Reading Submerged Conditions 22

Reading Submerged Conditions 23

Reading Submerged Conditions 24

Technologies Evaluated Four AMR Technologies 1. Walk-by with Handheld 2. Drive-by with Laptop 3. AMR: One way Fixed network Periodic Data Transmission one way from Meter to SWWC 4. AMI: Two way Fixed network Data-Reports Transmission to SWWC SWWC commands to meter We have been open to fully automated as well as partially automated technologies because in reality we may find that the fixed network is not compatible with all of our systems spread out throughout the state. Our systems are diverse. Some with significant changes in elevation in the hill country region and some with low meter density in a rural environment. Therefore, a combination of technologies may be more feasible than a one size fits all approach. 25

Vendor Evaluation for Automatic RF Meters Evaluation Criteria to Rank 8 AMR Vendors: Compatibility with existing water meters Low flow accuracy Strength of transmission signal Encapsulated one-piece vandal deterrent module Financial Stability of the Company FCC License Material & Workmanship Deficiency + AWWA Accuracy Warranty Battery life expectancy Hourly 6 month Consumption history Data transmission in submerged conditions Last 15 year performance in Texas Meter register malfunction due to silt in water

AMR / AMI Project Objective: Find one vendor who can supply and install TX wide in 6 months, an accurate automatic water meter, and a reliable RF frequency network system, which provides the best return on Investment, for the lowest life-cycle cost In our transition to automatic meter reading, we want to: Get accurate consumption data across the typical flow ranges. Install completely automated fixed networks to eliminate travel for meter reading, and Select technology that provides the best return on investment 27

Evaluation Process Technology Research Preliminary Selection Vendor Technology Presentations Detailed Evaluation and Ranking Field visits to working systems/demos Meetings with clients Final Evaluation and Ranking RFP, Bid Review, Vendor Proposal Presentation, and Award In our transition to automatic meter reading, we want to: Get accurate consumption data across the typical flow ranges. Install completely automated fixed networks to eliminate travel for meter reading, and Select technology that provides the best return on investment 28

Reading Submerged Conditions

Reading Submerged Conditions

Leak Detection: Leak Starts 31

Leak Detection: Leak in Progress 32

Leak Detection: Leak Fixed 33

AWWA Meter Testing: 6 meter types 10 GPM 2 GPM ¼ GPM

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Chuck Profilet, P.E., Vice President and Managing Director Ed Taussig, Finance Director Ryan Quigley, Director of Operations Gary Rose, Director of Operations Doug Connor, District Manager David Garrett, IT Project Manager George Freitag, Rate Manager Shawn Sharkey, P.E. Project Engineer Janice Hayes, Community Relations Manager

Thanks and have a great day! Contact Information Please email daniel.christodoss@swwc.com or call (817) 894-1357 Thanks and have a great day!