Meter software boosts water system’s cash flow

The East Orange Water Commission (EOWC) serves 85,000 people in the 4-square-mile city of East Orange, N.J. Recently, to improve meter reading services and distributions systems management, EOWC integrated its GIS and automated mater reading software system. The new system it developed with Schlumberger Meter Communications Systems, Norcross, Ga., transmits water pressure readings and water, gas and electric meter readings from remote locations to the utility’s computer over telephone lines.

Reading the meters of the commission’s largest accounts was the first step in the project. “About 5 percent of our customers account for more than 50 percent of our revenue,” says Jonathan Lee, EOWC’s senior systems analyst. “We put all of these large customers on automated monthly billing — no meter reader, no key puncher. This gave us the cash flow to pay for this kind of a project.”

Reading water pressure on demand at selected points in the city using the same integrated system was the next step. Such readings allow the utility to identify system anomalies, analyze system deficiencies, calibrate the hydraulic model, detect leaks and maximize distribution system efficiency, according to Stephen Noakes, EOWC’s senior engineer.

“Water pressure varies with the demand throughout the day, and we wanted pressure transducers installed at various points throughout the city,” he says. “It was easy to justify using an automated meter reading telephone system as the best way to do the job. When the cost of a meter reader goes up — the price of a telephone call is flat. From our customers’ standpoint, everything with this system is really beneficial. It doesn’t cost the customer anything.”

The system consists of the utility’s business computer workstation using a GIS application developed by Environmental Science Research Institute, Redlands, Calif., and communication software. At the meter is an encoded register, a meter interface unit and a modem that opens communications between the computer and the telephone company to transfer data. All readings are transmitted on demand in digital format to the utility’s computer. Network communication is provided through the existing customer telephone system.

With the system, Lee can call up transducers using automated meter reading software and plot a real-time pressure grid. EOWC can also monitor pressure transducers for leak detection and leak location by measuring flow and pressure data. In emergency situations, monitoring the transducers shows whether the pressure will accommodate emergency requirements such as increased demand. This pressure monitoring also identifies flow distribution patterns when checking for water impurities in water samplings.