For many years, the city of Plantation, Florida, paid a vendor to collect water meter reads. "The price was so reasonable, we couldn’t justify switching to an automatic meter reading (AMR) system," recalled Assistant Director of Utilities Larry Duemmling.
"But then the firm’s owner came to us and said, ‘I’ve worked hard all my life and have decided to close the business and begin raising grapes.’ Now he’s bottling and selling his own brand of wine."
Officials contacted other meter reading companies but price estimates were considerably higher than the previous supplier’s per-meter rate, according to Duemmling. "At that point, we re-ran the numbers and AMR became competitive."
Fast-growing suburb
Plantation — whose motto is "the grass is greener" — is located about 20 miles northwest of Miami. It has grown rapidly. The population was approximately 500 when the community was incorporated in 1953 and now stands at just over 85,000.
A city Internet page states that the name comes from the original settlers calling their one-acre tracts of land "little plantations" and also from a time when the area the city occupies was known as "the Old Plantation Water Control District."
Budget-neutral is goal of performance contract
In an effort to get the "most juice out of the orange," Duemmling said Plantation decided to sign a performance contract with a "resource efficiency" company that would recommend an AMR solution, manage its installation, and be responsible for assuring that ultimately the project didn’t cost the city anything. "This project goal is termed ‘budget-neutral,’" Duemmling continued, "and after reviewing the qualifications of a number of firms, we chose Milwaukee-based Johnson Controls, Inc. to help us achieve it."
A budget-neutral outcome would be possible based on three factors, Duemmling explained, first, eliminating the expense of paying an outside agency to collect reads from the city’s 28,000 meters; second, reducing costs associated with customer service personnel entering reads into a computerized billing system; and third, additional revenue would flow in due to the increased accuracy of new meters.
"The AMR system would also eliminate the need to do estimates because of unfriendly dogs, cars parked over meter pits, and other circumstances which prevented readers from accessing meters," he added. Water meters are usually located in the strip between the curb and the sidewalk, and residents sometimes park vehicles over them inadvertently.
Plantation allows residents to have two meters, one for household water and a second for water used only for irrigation. "A lot of people enjoy gardening in Plantation," Duemmling explained, "and because the water used to sprinkle plants doesn’t have to go through the wastewater treatment facility, we charge only for the water used—no sewage charge. That is a considerable savings for our customers."
AMR leader Badger Meter favored
Duemmling mentioned that there was never a doubt which company Plantation would choose for its AMR system and meters. The community has relied on Badger Meter for decades, he stressed, and is a happy customer. "We view our meters as cash registers, and Badger’s products have not only been reliable, they’ve generated exceptional revenue. In addition, Steve Portlance, our sales representative, is always on top of things and answers our questions promptly."
Transmitters, meters, and lines installed
Installation of the Badger® ORION® transmitters began in February 2008 and work was completed by the end of September 2008.
Meters newer than five years were retrofitted with an ORION transmitter, a procedure that usually takes no more than 30 minutes. Meters older than five years were replaced with new Badger® meters.
In a separate capital improvement project, installersreplaced water lines between mains and meters. "Some of the galvanized pipe that was used originally is badly clogged by scale," Duemmling said. "We’ve seen pipes narrowed to the diameter of a pencil. Homeowners notice a big difference in water pressure when we replace those old lines with PVC pipe."
Efficiency and customer service improvements
The new Badger ORION system is already operating and reducing personnel hours dramatically. Sections of the city that previously took three people a day to read are now completed by one person in four hours, a savings of 20 hours a month.
Duemmling is particularly impressed by Badger ORION’s data profiling feature, which he compared to having a 24/7 window on each customer’s usage. He cited the case of a local restaurant when describing the feature’s benefits. "We noticed this business’ consumption was unusually high and could tell water was being used even after the place closed for the day," he recalled.
Prompted by water department personnel, the customer contacted a plumber who discovered a crack in the restaurant’s piping. "The owner was pretty happy to be informed about it," Duemmling said. The feature also helps reveal problems such as stuck toilet flapper valves, a common source of high water usage. "People call and exclaim, ‘I couldn’t possibly have used that much water!’ Data profiling allows us to show them the time the leak started, stopped, and how many gallons per hour were used."
Conservation aided by monitor
The department also loans Badger® ORION® Water Meter Monitors to customers, giving them the option of returning the device in good working order after three months or buying it. "The monitor is about the size of a deck of cards," Duemmling said, "and allows customers to remotely ‘read’ their water meter conveniently, from inside their home. The device answers questions such as, ‘How much water did my teenager use for that 30-minute shower?’ It’s great for people who are trying to conserve."
In explaining why he would recommend Badger ORION and other Badger products, Duemmling emphasized that public officials have a responsibility to make sure citizens get the best bang for the buck. "Badger Meter has done an excellent job for Plantation, and I’m confident the company will do the same for other communities."