FPUD approves meter replacement purchases

The Fallbrook Public Utility District is in the process of replacing Automatic Meter Reading meters with Advanced Metering Infrastructure meters, and a July 27 FPUD board vote approved the purchases for the fifth year of the program.

The 5-0 vote approved $532,088.90 of purchases including sales tax for meters, encoder receiver transmitters, and antennas. The purchases will provide the district with 1,308 Badger meters of various sizes from National Meter and Automation Inc. for $320,785 plus sales tax and 1,301 Itron encoder receiver transmitters and antennas from Inland Works Water Supply Company for $173,730.50 not including sales tax.

“It’s just to finish out the program we’ve been on to transition from radio meters to those which transmit to a location,” Jack Bebee, general manager of FPUD, said.

The American Water Works Association standard lifecycle for meters is 15 to 20 years.

“The meters were last replaced 15 years ago,” Bebee said. “The meters have reached the end of their useful life.”

FPUD first purchased water meters with encoder receiver transmitters in 2002, which allowed meter reading to be converted to a drive-by system. The drive-by meter reading not only reduced the staff time needed to read the meters but also allowed for more accurate reads.

Over time some of the meters along with the associated radio-based endpoints approached the end of their reliable life span. In July 2015 FPUD’s board approved the multi-year program to replace meters and radio-based endpoints. In February 2016, the FPUD board approved a three-year professional services contract with WaterSmart Software Inc. for a water use data program. The software in conjunction with the Advanced Metering Infrastructure will provide the district with alerts of leaks or other high usage and will also provide for management and enforcement of use limit violations. The customer portal of the WaterSmart software allows all-hours access to the online web and mobile portal, real-time usage data, gallons per day usage information and a personalized water score, personalized water-saving actions, neighborhood comparisons, seasonal usage data, an estimated annual end use, historical trends and a history of user actions and alerts.

FPUD had replaced 7,780 of the district’s 9,267 meters as of July. The replacement of all of the Automatic Meter Reading meters with Advanced Metering Infrastructure meters will also allow usage information to be conveyed directly to the district.

“It will eliminate the need for us to drive around to pick up signals,” Bebee said.

FPUD budgeted $675,000 in the district’s fiscal year 2020-2021 capital improvement program for meter replacement. The remaining $142,911.10 will fund labor expenses.

Joe Naiman can be reached by email at [email protected].