The Town has received federal funding from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA).  Under the guidelines of the ARPA, an investment in water infrastructure is an eligible cost.    

The Public Works Department recommends the use of ARPA funding to upgrade approximately 33% (1,000) water meter registers throughout the town that cannot radio communicate daily usage reports and use old technology.  Some of these meters are up to 18 years old.

Town staff has been continually upgrading water meters (registers) in the town using a phased approach, as funding is allocated. Water meters using newer technology allow migration from a walk by (or Automatic Mobile Reading AMR system) to Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI).  That is, data is collected by a “gateway” that is installed at a high point in the Town (there are currently two gateways in the Town).  This minimizes or eliminates the need for drive-by data collection.  The newer water meter registers are able to record real-time water usage and communicate this to the gateway devices. The system gathers metering data as well as daily leak, reverse flow and days of no flow alerts.

This automation allows the meter technician more time for repairs, leak checks, etc. However, there are approximately 1,000 meters that use old technology and do not take full advantage of the newer software and gateway devices. Because of the older meter registers, the meter technician actually monitors two systems – the old and the new – which takes time.      

Public Works estimates that it would take 6-12 months to complete the upgrade of the approximately 1,000 old meter registers.  

There are many benefits associated with this upgrade that will assist both town in our mission to deliver  potable water to our residential and commercial customers. These benefits include:

• Improved meter reading accuracy which allows the meter technician more time for repairs, reads, leak checks and upgrades.

• Improved reaction time to respond to leaks, which saves customers money and conserves the Town’s water resources.

• Upgraded technology allows water usage to be recorded through the gateway devices, freeing the meter technician from driving routes to log water usage.

• Upgraded meter registers will help staff determine communication coverage and location of another gateway antenna if needed. 

• Upgraded meter registers will facilitate a future customer portal which would allow customers to monitor their daily water usage.  This would improve transparency and support citizen trust. 

• The new registers will help us delivery better customer service through new and improved data logging capabilities. 

• The antiquated registers that have not been upgraded do not communicate with our upgraded software.  The newer software is based on technology that communicates water usage through a radio signal directly into the software system, and allows for more accurate detailed reading.

• The registers that need to be replaced have an estimated battery life of ten years.  Some of the registers currently being used are 18 years old.
•  Without ARPA Funding, the anticipated time to upgrade all of the remaining meter registers would be 5 to 7 years based on current funding restraints.

The project is estimated to cost $250,000.  Meter registers installed throughout the Town are manufactured by Neptune, and are compatible with the Neptune gateway devices and software.  It is therefore not practical to publicly procure meter registers that are manufactured by alternate companies.  Staff proposes to procure the registers under a sole source justification.