WESTFIELD – On Thursday, the Finance Committee considered a $4 million Bond Order for a Water Meter Replacement Project.
Department of Public Works Superintendent David Billips and Assistant Director Francis Cain passed out an accounting of the project, and explained the scope of it to committee members and other councilors in attendance.
The $4 million is for the purchase of new iPERL meters, a Flexnet network to provide Automated Meter Information (AMI), installation, contingencies and temporary employees.
Billips said the DPW has looked into this over the past eight years. The current meters being used are Neptune mechanical disc meters that are twenty years old, and require being read by meter readers. The new meters along with the software will transmit information and show real-time usage, and enable the department to determine where unaccounted-for water is going.
Billips said he anticipates a savings of $436,000 per year from unaccounted-for water. The handout shows a total annual savings of more than $600,000, which also includes $160,000 saved in meter reading costs.
Billips also said that unaccounted for water amounts to 16% of the water the city produces. The new meters will show the department where the leaks are, and can also register low flow amounts of up to 100th of a gallon. Billips said a lot of unaccounted-for water is from theft, some from leaks, and also from tampering.
Cain said the new meters will help them be better able to determine where unaccounted-for water is going. He said they have already installed 1,000 of the new meters, although they still have to be read by meter readers. They did a pilot project with the software, and were able to look at real-time usage.
“The thought was, why keep installing the old technology,” Cain said. He said the technology they are currently using is twenty years old.
When asked about cost per meter, Cain said the new meters cost $115 per unit, which he said is comparable to the old meters which don’t have the same functionality.
“I wish it could have worked out between the Water Department and Westfield Gas & Electric,” said Ward 4 Councilor Mary O’Connell, who was in attendance at the meeting.
Billips said the systems weren’t compatible. After the meeting, Cain explained that when G&E was looking to get new meters, they explored having the water meters fit into that mix. But he said the Water Department wouldn’t have gotten the functionality which they were looking for with the G&E system.
For example, if meters have been tampered with, they will now get that data instantly with the new system. They will also be able to give customers a better idea of conservation and ways to conserve, rather than waiting 3 months for water bills. With G&E, they couldn’t get the granular data that will show every aspect of water consumption during the billing cycle, and when water is being used.
“Their job function is gas and electric. Ours is water. In this instance, it was proven it doesn’t mix,” Cain said. He said the G&E vendor couldn’t give them the same leak detection.
“How long will it take to install,” asked At-large Councilor and Finance Committee member Matthew T. VanHeynigen at the meeting.
Billips estimated a year and a half. Cain said they will install 400-600 meters a month, and don’t have to wait until the entire build out to get the system up and running. He said there will be three receiver sites on Cedar Lane, West Road, East Mountain Road that all the meters will talk to. From there, the information will come back to the Water Department, to decipher what the meters are telling them.
Ward 5 Councilor and Finance Committee chair Robert A. Paul, Sr. asked if the Water Committee had vetted the plan, to which Billips responded that they had.
Paul then suggested putting the Bond as the first item on the next Finance Committee meeting, in order to give members time to understand the total cost, budget, and what is going to change.
“I think it will be good for everyone to understand the depth you (DPW) went into,” Paul said to Billips.
At-large Councilor Dave Flaherty suggested that the information they received at the meeting be sent to every City Councilor. A motion was then made to hold the Bond in Committee.
In the City Council meeting that followed, Paul reported to the Council on the Bond project.
“There is a lot of work that has been done. It’s an opportunity to reduce expenses, and to find water,” Paul reported. He said he would like to see the information the committee was given put on the city’s shared drive.
Council President Brent B. Bean, II said he would like to see the Bond project come before the City Council by the end of September.
