BERLIN– The Town of Berlin is moving forward with plans to purchase and install smart water meters.
The Berlin Town Council on Monday unanimously approved two requests for proposals (RFPs), one for the purchase of smart water meters and another for their installation. The new meters are expected to cost about $1 million.
“The town has really taken a long hard look at this,” said Josh Taylor of Davis Bowen & Friedel. “A million dollars is a lot of money and it is ultimately going to save the town a significant amount of money but also you’re getting a state-of-the-art meter reading system.”
The town’s need for new water meters came up in the fall when a water rate study revealed that the town was not receiving revenue for about 25% of water it produced. Staff said a lot of that water loss was tied to inaccurate meters.
“Mechanical meters, the day they come out of the box they begin to fail,” Town Administrator Jeff Fleetwood said. “We know we’ve got the issue.”
Staff are aware of at least 400 inaccurate meters. Fleetwood said staff recommended issuing two separate RFPs, one for procurement of the meters and one for installation.
“I think this keeps people on their toes and keeps them honest,” he said.
Jamey Latchum, the town’s stormwater and wastewater superintendent, said that with the amount of water loss the town experienced, new meters wouldn’t take long to pay for themselves.
“Two years this would pay for itself internally,” he said.
Jean Holloway of the Southeast Rural Community Assistance Project Inc., who performed the rate analysis presented in the fall, echoed the support for new meters. She said it was clear a large portion of the town’s water loss was related to unreliable meters. She added that smart meters would lessen the impact of leaks.
“This type of metering allows you to identify a leak in an individual line very quickly and you can avoid losing even more water,” she said.
Taylor noted that new meters would also allow water department employees to be more efficient.
“It’s going to make everyone’s job, I say easier but really more effective, more efficient, for years to come,” he said.
Taylor said DBF was also created a GPS map to track the installation process throughout town.
The council voted unanimously to approve each of the RFPs. Taylor said that while they were drafts, he didn’t expect them to change substantially before they were issued.
“There will be technical specifications and mapping that go along with them that we’re still finalizing,” he said.
