Accelerating the timetable for converting to an automated water meter reading system could save Martensville ratepayers hundreds of thousands of dollars in installation costs.
In a report to Martensville City Council on Tuesday, October 19, Martensville Planning and Infrastructure Director Matt Gruza said the city currently has about 3,100 water meters. The majority of these meters are read manually, with civic employees walking the city and collecting the information with special readers from the “pucks” located on the front of the buildings.
Some newer water meters are able to be read using built-in radio frequency (RF) technology, allowing city staff to read the meters as they drive by.
Gruza noted that a good chunk of the Water and Sewer department’s monthly workload consists of completing manual water meter reads. Recently the city has hired casual meter readers, allowing highly-trained water and sewer workers to focus on more skilled tasks.
As the city expands, the cost of manual water meter reads is expected to increase substantially, prompting city administration and council to explore options for implementing a more efficient system.
The city has already earmarked $1 million over the next four years to upgrade its water meter system to one that relies entirely on RF technology rather than manual reads. The city’s 2022-2025 capital budget includes allocations of $250,000 annually to the project. The idea was to split the project over four years to spread out the cost and focus on one route at a time.
However, if the project is completed in a single year by a qualified contractor, the city could realize very substantial savings.
“Administration has reached out to Neptune, the water meter provider, for an estimate to convert the entire city in one year and to have the work completed entirely by their contractors,” said Gruza in his report to the October 19 city council meeting.
“Neptune has provided a budget estimate for a city-wide conversion with two different options. The first option, for a cost of $1,472,500, plus taxes, is to convert the entire city to a drive-by reading system.
“The second option, for a cost of $1,584,100, plus tax, is to convert the city to an automated reading system which would be controlled from a computer at City Hall. This would allow us to collect water meter information at any point in time with just a click of a button, and would eliminate the requirement of our staff to do drive-by reads entirely.”
Neptune is currently completing a water meter replacement program in Yorkton which is slated to wrap up in February, 2022. The company told Martensville city administration that if its proposal to upgrade water meters is accepted, it would begin the project as soon as the Yorkton work is completed. This would shave $200,000 off the cost due to “streamlining efficiencies and lower mobilization costs.”
Martensville City Manager Sott Blevins told council that undertaking the project sooner rather than later would result in additional significant savings.
“I would encourage council to support this program,” said Blevins. “In the coming years we are projecting significant capital programs which would hinder this program in the future.
“We have received a one-time top-up of the Gas Tax from the federal government, which amounts to an extra $580,000, and I would suggest using this top-up to assist in funding this program.
“Between the Gas Tax money and the savings from mobilization the full program can be completed for half price.”
City councillors expressed interest in the proposal, but said there are questions regarding the technology and logistics that still need to be answered.
Additional information on the proposal is expected to come before a future city council meeting before any decision is made on whether to proceed.