Glendora’s continued efforts to conserve water will take a leap forward after officials award a contract to Aqua Metric Sales Co. to install Smart Meter technology.
The nearly $3.7 million contract will allow 5,000 existing Automatic Meter Reading water installations to be retrofitted with a radio transceiver, converting them to Advanced Metering Infrastructure Smart Meters, while at least 1,000 AMR meters will be replaced for the city’s top consumers, City Staff said.
The retrofit will reportedly save $685,000, compared to a complete replacement, at a cost of $20 per customer.
Glendora’s meter replacement program, started 20 years ago, will be accelerated under the city’s Emergency Drought Response Plan approved in May and will give water customers more tools to control water usage, City Staff said.
The Flex-Net Smart Meters, manufactured by Sensus, can reportedly provide real time data on water consumption multiple times per day, identify leaks and compare historical water usage for both customers and city staff through computers and even smart phones and tablets.
Phase 1 upgrades are expected to take no longer than seven months after the City Council is expected to award the contract, City Staff said.
Starting in August, the city plans to implement monthly training sessions and tutorial videos will be available for customers to learn how to use Smart Meters.
In the first year of implementation, 9,000 Smart Meters are expected to be in use, City Staff said.
Phase 2 will likely see the replacement of AMR meters that cannot be retrofitted.
The city will budget $4 million for this project in the 2015-16 fiscal year.
This contract will be discussed during the Glendora City Council meeting Tuesday, July 14 scheduled at 7 p.m. in the Council Chambers, 116 E. Foothill Blvd.
