1. 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

2. 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

3. 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

4. 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, (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

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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

8. 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

9. 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, (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

10. 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

11. 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, (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

12. 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

13. 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

14. 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

15. 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

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

17. 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

18. 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

19. 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

20. 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.

21. 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.

22. Reading Submerged Conditions22

23. Reading Submerged Conditions23

24. Reading Submerged Conditions24

25. 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

26. 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

27. 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

28. 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

29. Reading Submerged Conditions

30. Reading Submerged Conditions

31. Leak Detection: Leak Starts31

32. Leak Detection: Leak in Progress32

33. Leak Detection: Leak Fixed33

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

36. 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

37. Thanks and have a great day!
Contact Information
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Thanks and have a great day!