CCP 03-17-1997 - Laserfiche WebLink

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- - I CITY OF ARDEN HILLS .- MEMORANDUM DATE: February 7, 1997 . TO: Brian Fritsinger, City Administrator q . FROM: Dwayne Stafford, Public Works Superintendent ).. SUBJECT: Water Meter Replacement I Background . The City of Arden Hills has identified the need for a water meter replacement program for several years. The life expectancy of a water meter is approximately 20 years, if an acceptable degree of accuracy is expected. Many of the Arden Hills residential water meters were installed . in the late sixties and early seventies. The meters are only 100 percent accurate when fust installed and the amount of water and the characteristics of the water running through them dictate the amount of wear incurred which affects their accuracy. A meter should never read . more gallons than has actually run through it, but will read less as parts began to wear. There are three major water meter suppliers in this area which account for most of this market. Ie They are Schlumberger, manufacturers ofthe Neptune Meters, Sensus Technology; manufacturers of Sensus Meters and the Badger Meter Company, which currently supplies all Arden Hills meters. I Each manufacturer offers a basic meter body for approximately $70.00 and all three of the basic . meters are adaptable to various meter reading devices. Currently, the City has all remote reads. This is a system where the actual meter dial generates a small electrical pulse as it spins. This pulse is sent by wires to a remote located display device. This display has a dial and numbers I similar to these on the actual meter and the electrical pulse sent from the actual meter turns the remote dials simultaneously with the actual meter dials. This system requires a person to read the meter and record the numbers in a book on the page corresponding to the building address. . The book readings, when completed, are turned over to the billing department which enters the reading information into a database for billing purposes. These procedures represent 30 year old technology. One of the problems the City has with this system is the remote either stops or I doesn't keep up with the actual meter. When the billing department realizes a significant drop in consumption or no consumption, the resident is flagged for a double check and the problem is corrected. The City has about twenty of these per quarter representing approximately one I percent of the installed residential meter base (2338 connections). I .. I I