(Originally posted on waterefficiency.net)
By Elizabeth Cutright
Editor
Water Efficiency
This week (Sept. 14, 2009) I’m in Denver, CO, attending the Utilimetrics Smart Metering Conference and Exposition, aka Autovation. The conference covers metering primarily in the electric utility industry, but there’s plenty of discussion on the role AMR and AMI play in the quest for efficient water resource management.
As you know, automatic meter reading (AMR) involves the automatic collection of data from meters (water, gas, and electric). Once the data is collected, it is transferred to a central database for analysis and metering. Of greatest benefit to a water utility is the possibility of measuring actual consumption, thereby enabling accurate billing and a more in depth and demand-sensitive resource management.
Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI), on the other hand, pushes data management to another level by including the measurement, collection, and analysis of meter-acquired data. AMI includes not only hardware, but the master data management (MDM) software and customer interface that makes use of all the statistics and information collected, including water usage and billing. Another AMI benefit is the ability to craft sophisticated demand-response solutions.
I’m excited to see the newest and most innovative AMR/AMI technology that’ll be on display here in Denver, and you can rest assured that I’ll be passing along everything I’ve to learned to you.
In the meantime, check out some of our past AMR/AMI articles. They run the gamut from project profiles on one particular success story, to technologically focused pieces that will give you the basics, to grander articles that fix AMR/AMI within the bigger picture of water efficiency and resource management.
Showing posts with label water efficiency resource management meters. Show all posts
Showing posts with label water efficiency resource management meters. Show all posts
Monday, September 14, 2009
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
A Place With No Meters
(Originally posted on waterefficiency.net)
By Elizabeth Cutright
Editor
Water Efficiency
My mother has a favorite saying, “We all make our own hell.” Of course, what she means is that we are all ultimately accountable for the situation we find ourselves in, and it’s up to each of us to find our own solutions. When it comes to water resource management, we’re lucky to have so many options, from infrastructure improvements to leak detection, to resource management via AMR/AMI and data integration. But what if those options weren’t available? Or, even worse, illegal? That’s the case in Fresno, CA, where water meters are banned by a city charter, and residential water use flows unfettered and unrecorded, propelling Fresno to the top of the urban water users in the country. In her article, “Without Meters, Fresno Water Beyond Measure” Sasha Khokha details how Fresno has become a water meter no-man’s land. Due in no small part to a history of cheap water provided by state and federal projects, citizens of this central valley community are adamant about their right to unmetered water.
In the 1990s, while head of the city’s water department, Martin McIntyre initially succeeded in implementing a voluntary residential meter program. Although 8,000 customers agreed to install meters on their property, a “vehement group of taxpayers convinced city leaders to incorporate a ‘no meter policy’ into Fresno’s city charter.” As a result, meters were actually banned for single-family residential units and McIntyre’s department was forced to remove every single one of those 8,000 meters.
But change is coming. California legislature now requires that any city using water from federal dams must install meters by 2013—this new law deftly trumping Fresno’s existing city charter. In the meantime, water will flow unchecked, and Fresno residents will most likely continue to use—on average—290 gallons per home. The city is not completely at the mercy of unrecorded water users. Fresno employs a small group of “conservation specialists” who check leaky sprinkler systems, malfunctioning showerheads, and, even, faulty toilets. These specialists come armed with wrenches and low-flow showerheads, and their efforts do help raise awareness of the need for water conservation.
Fresno is not alone. Many cities in and out of California are only partially metered. And while water meters (and their high-tech cousins AMR and AMI) are not a cure all, one wonders how we can have any effective demand reduction strategy when we cannot even measure how much water is being used.
By Elizabeth Cutright
Editor
Water Efficiency
My mother has a favorite saying, “We all make our own hell.” Of course, what she means is that we are all ultimately accountable for the situation we find ourselves in, and it’s up to each of us to find our own solutions. When it comes to water resource management, we’re lucky to have so many options, from infrastructure improvements to leak detection, to resource management via AMR/AMI and data integration. But what if those options weren’t available? Or, even worse, illegal? That’s the case in Fresno, CA, where water meters are banned by a city charter, and residential water use flows unfettered and unrecorded, propelling Fresno to the top of the urban water users in the country. In her article, “Without Meters, Fresno Water Beyond Measure” Sasha Khokha details how Fresno has become a water meter no-man’s land. Due in no small part to a history of cheap water provided by state and federal projects, citizens of this central valley community are adamant about their right to unmetered water.
In the 1990s, while head of the city’s water department, Martin McIntyre initially succeeded in implementing a voluntary residential meter program. Although 8,000 customers agreed to install meters on their property, a “vehement group of taxpayers convinced city leaders to incorporate a ‘no meter policy’ into Fresno’s city charter.” As a result, meters were actually banned for single-family residential units and McIntyre’s department was forced to remove every single one of those 8,000 meters.
But change is coming. California legislature now requires that any city using water from federal dams must install meters by 2013—this new law deftly trumping Fresno’s existing city charter. In the meantime, water will flow unchecked, and Fresno residents will most likely continue to use—on average—290 gallons per home. The city is not completely at the mercy of unrecorded water users. Fresno employs a small group of “conservation specialists” who check leaky sprinkler systems, malfunctioning showerheads, and, even, faulty toilets. These specialists come armed with wrenches and low-flow showerheads, and their efforts do help raise awareness of the need for water conservation.
Fresno is not alone. Many cities in and out of California are only partially metered. And while water meters (and their high-tech cousins AMR and AMI) are not a cure all, one wonders how we can have any effective demand reduction strategy when we cannot even measure how much water is being used.
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