Case Study

Metro Water Services (MWS) serves the water needs of more than 170,000 residential, commercial and industrial customers in Nashville, Tennessee. While Nashville has access to an abundant supply of water from the Cumberland River, MWS is committed to introducing new technologies to better manage critical water resources, boost operational efficiency and provide the utmost customer service.

In balancing the need to support conservation efforts while increasing revenue, MWS recognized that they needed a streamlined water management solution that would accommodate challenges ranging from technology to topography.

MWS was in the process of implementing an Automated Meter Reading (AMR) system for drive-by meter readings when they realized newer technologies could better serve their needs.

THE CHALLENGE

MWS recognized that a drive-by AMR system would not completely address the challenges they were facing. What they needed was a solution that would solve immediate needs while supporting future growth. MWS also recognized that meters installed at residential and commercial customer sites were failing to measure very low or high flow rates, resulting in lost revenue for the utility.

In fact, more than 30% of water utilities are currently losing money due to leaks and inaccurate meter reads. Identifying and stopping water waste was critical for MWS to support conservation efforts and capture revenue from water usage that was previously unmeasured.

THE SOLUTION

MWS selected an advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) fixed-base communications network to support even greater operational improvements begun with the AMR implementation. The system allows for remote reading of intelligent meters, even across the challenging, hilly terrain of Nashville.

This enables MWS to read meters from the office, which saves time and reduces operating costs. In the future, the utility’s goal is to proactively identify leaks and help consumers use information gathered by the system to better understand their water usage and adjust their behaviors as needed.

THE RESULTS

MWS has documented success in capturing more revenue and improving operational efficiency using a fixed-base communications network to support remote read of intelligent meters. Since deploying the upgrade nearly two years ago, MWS has realized increased revenue due to their ability to capture previously unmeasured low and high water flow. Commercial meters can account for 50 percent or more of a water utility’s revenue, so this improvement is significant.

Before implementing AMR, MWS employed 30 meter readers to cover 473 manual read routes. Over the period of transition to AMI, MWS has reduced this number to 11 meter readers, and believes they will need even fewer readers, freeing up staff to be redeployed for other assignments.

THE CUSTOMERS

Keeping the customer informed throughout this process proved to be one of the utility’s key factors for success.

The utility focused on internal and external communications with employees and customers to gain strong support at the start of the AMR project. Key utility and government personnel, utility employees and customers were all educated on the benefits of these changes and the potential impact it would have for each individual or group.

Community meetings and outreach to media ensured that customer concerns and questions were addressed and the result has been strong support, even though, in some cases, customers now see a higher bill due to greater meter read accuracy. Customer feedback has been largely supportive.

THE CONCLUSION

MWS has embraced the first significant technological advances for the water industry in a half century. Carefully planned deployment, proven return on investment and an open dialogue with its customer base all contributed to its success.

Meters are now read with 100 percent accuracy, and expanded flow measurement has already shown an increase of revenue. The return on investment will continue to grow over time as new meters with fewer moving parts reduce head loss to save energy costs, require less maintenance and have a longer lifecycle.

MWS is regularly tapped to share its success story with other utilities considering upgrading outdated equipment. The information and experiences they can share will continue to grow as the utility leverages the full benefits of increased intelligence.

Moving forward, MWS plans to use the data gathered to proactively identify leaks and notify customers to a problem before property is destroyed, revenue lost and water is wasted.