This paper describes technology evaluation, selection, implementation, and post construction community relations in a project initially considered impossible, considering the diversity across the depth of Texas. However, the staff effectively scaled all barriers in the information technology, radio frequency, and water utility construction industry. The success of this project is attributable to the integration of operators, engineers, and information technologists in a high-tech environment. They came together to compete a Texas deep high-tech automatic meter reading (AMR) technology project in an unprecedented record time by selecting the best return on investment (ROI) at the lowest life-cycle cost to transition diverse utilities from manual to automatic meter reading”. Daniel Christodoss, PhD, PE. www.enprovise.net or www.cleanwater4.us call: 817-894-1357

1. From Manual to
Automated Meter Reading (AMR)
2011 Implementation of a High-Tech
Automatic Water Meter Reading
Application in Unprecedented Record
Time at Diversified Water Utilities
Across Texas
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

2. 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 Sherman
Utilities Map
• 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

5. Meter Reading Hazards @ TXUG (OTSH)
Biohazard
along
meter
route
Meter
Reader

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”!

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

9. Diversified Sherman
Utilities Map
• 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

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

11. Diversified Sherman
Utilities Map
• 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

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

13. Meter Reading Hazards @ TXUG (OTSH)
Biohazard
along
meter
route
Meter
Reader

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”!

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

16. Automatic RF Meters
Quick Remote Safe Accurate Automated 1 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 Guglielmo Marconi
 Modern aviation built the 1st Radio
 Wireless Internet access Transmitter in 1895
 Radio waves are electromagnetic, part of the light spectrum and
travel at a speed of 186,282 miles per second—the speed of light

18. Automatic Meters (win-win situation)
Promotes Water Conservation & Remote Secure Data Acquisition
Remote Access
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

21. Technologies Evaluated
Four AMR Technologies
 1. Walk-by with Handheld
 2. Drive-by with Laptop
 3. AMR: One way Fixed network
1. Periodic Data Transmission one way
from Meter to SWWC
 4. AMI: Two way Fixed network
1. Data-Reports Transmission to SWWC
2. SWWC commands to meter

22. Reading Submerged Conditions

23. Reading Submerged Conditions

24. Reading Submerged Conditions

25. Technologies Evaluated
Four AMR Technologies
 1. Walk-by with Handheld
 2. Drive-by with Laptop
 3. AMR: One way Fixed network
1. Periodic Data Transmission one way
from Meter to SWWC
 4. AMI: Two way Fixed network
1. Data-Reports Transmission to SWWC
2. SWWC commands to meter

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

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

29. Reading Submerged Conditions

30. Reading Submerged Conditions

31. Leak Detection: Leak Starts

32. Leak Detection: Leak in Progress

33. Leak Detection: Leak Fixed

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. Updated Contact Information
 Daniel Christodoss is currently at
Enprovise Solutions, Inc. and can be
reached at (817) 894-1357 or by
email at danielc@enprovise.net
 Web Address1: www.enprovise.net
 Web Address2: www.cleanwater4.us
 Web Address3: www.prowebserv.com
Thanks and have a great day!