Water Itron Delivers Advanced Water Fixed Network Technology to City of Detroit The Detroit Water and Sewerage Department is looking to an advanced metering network as an enabling technology for improved operations and delivering a higher level of service to its customers. The project is well underway, with Itron field engineers recently completing installation and testing of the cell control units that provide the network infrastructure for Detroit's advanced metering network. Installation is now underway on more than 280,000 water meters. click here for more information Itron Launches Next Generation Drive-By Meter Data Collection System Itron recently announced the commercial availability of its next generation of mobile data collection, the MC3, a powerful wireless AMR solution that provides utilities with advanced radio technology and unparalleled drive-by meter reading performance. click here for more information Village of Springville, N.Y., Springs Forward With Automated Metering Reading For years, meter readers in the Village of Springville, N.Y., were pained by walking routes with heavy route books, hoping to catch people at home in order to read meters. Read how ChoiceConnect™, the industry's leading meter data collection solution from Itron, is alleviating this pain. click here for more information A Splash of Innovation As the demand for water continues to increase, it becomes more important that utilities are able to precisely measure their customers' consumption. While different meter types offer accurate flow measurement at high flows, single-jet meters have a distinct performance advantage when measuring low flows. click here for more information

With Fixed Network Infrastructure Deployed and Tested, Water Meter Installations Begin in the City of Detroit
		Itron field engineers recently completed installation and testing of the cell control units that provide the network infrastructure for Detroit Water and Sewerage Department's (DWSD) advanced metering network. As part of the Detroit Meter Partners (DMP) joint venture, Itron has teamed with several other technology and service providers to deliver the most advanced water fixed network technology available to the City of Detroit.
With this portion of the project complete, installation of new meters begins on what will be the largest fixed network deployment for water meters in the world — reading a total of 280,000 when installation is completed in 2010. Over the next two-and-a-half years, DMP and DWSD will jointly install a total of 200,000 new Elster and Metron-Farnier water meters equipped with advanced Itron 200W endpoints, and will "retrofit" 200W endpoints to an additional 80,000 Sensus meters already in the field. In addition to the network installation, Itron is delivering Endpoint-Link® Pro, a software solution that will be used by installers to program communication modules on the meters. The system also enables installers to easily and quickly take digital photos of the meter installation and barcode scan the meter or endpoint. The Detroit Water and Sewerage Department will also utilize Itron's Service-Link® workforce management software to efficiently manage and process their daily work orders, to include meter installations. The Detroit Water and Sewerage Department is looking to the advanced metering network as an enabling technology for improved operations and delivering a higher level of service to its customers. These improvements include elimination of estimated reads, and the ability to do on-demand reads and provide enhanced leak and tamper detection capabilities.

Itron Launches Powerful, Next Generation Drive-By Meter Data Collection System to Maximize Efficiency and Reduce Utility Costs
		Itron is proud to announce the commercial availability of its next generation of mobile collection, the MC3, a powerful wireless automated meter reading (AMR) solution that provides utilities with advanced radio technology and advanced AMR capabilities. The latest addition to Itron's ChoiceConnect™ suite of AMR solutions, the MC3 has the ability to read up to 10,000 electricity, gas and water meters per minute, far exceeding the read
performance for any other mobile AMR system on the market. Powered by Itron's new SRead™ radio technology, the MC3 dramatically increases read performance and reliability by simultaneously listening for ERT signals across 80 different channels within the 900 MHz spread spectrum. In addition, SRead's multi-channel architecture and advanced antenna design enable the MC3 to isolate and slice through radio frequency (RF) "noise" and interference to ensure optimal reading performance in difficult RF environments where other systems are operating in the same band. The MC3 also features an advanced mapping application to further optimize read performance and routing. The GPS Mapping System provides the operator with immediate visual representation of endpoint locations and read confirmation. This virtually eliminates the need for time consuming re-reads or collecting skipped reads, thereby reducing meter reading times and fuel consumption, and improving worker productivity. "For the many utilities and municipalities seeking the proven cost benefits, productivity gains and customer service improvements of mobile AMR technology, Itron's MC3 is the best solution on the market," said Russ Vanos, vice president of marketing for Itron. "The MC3 delivers superior RF technology and reading performance, along with advanced functionality through our partnership with Eka Systems for remote demand reset and TOU data collection. We believe that's an unbeatable combination for utilities seeking a strong return on their AMR investment."

Village of Springville, N.Y., Springs Forward With Automated Metering Reading
		For years, meter readers in the Village of Springville, N.Y., walked their meter reading routes armed with route books, hoping to catch people at home in order to collect electric consumption data. In the early days, electric meters were generally on the inside of houses, and the ones that were on the outside were often covered by piles of waist deep snow in the winter. In some cases, household electricity consumption was estimated due to the hard-to-reach meters.
A bedroom community, Springville is located about 35 miles south of Buffalo, offering a blend of suburban and rural life in the western region of New York state. The Springville Public Works Department provides electric and water services for the Village. In previous years, Springville had 12 meter routes, split up among a crew of four, all of whom had to be pulled off other duties to read meters for four days. With a population of about 4,500, the Village was forced to use the skilled linemen to perform the entry-level job of meter reading, at the same pay level of skilled linemen. The Village also reads about 1,650 water meters, most of which were generally located in home basements, causing all types of problems gaining access. "We had a difficult time scheduling appointments," said Karl Lux, Superintendent of Public Works. "We would be there and no one showed up. We would reschedule and reschedule and finally estimate the reading. If there was a leak between real and estimated readings, the customer would be unhappy when they saw the actual bill. With remote reading, we could have flagged potential leaks before they became a problem." Three years ago, the Village of Springville, a longtime customer of Itron, switched to Itron's ChoiceConnect™ suite of AMR products—the industry's leading meter data collection solution. The Village selected Itron's CENTRON® R300 electricity meters, FC200 handheld computers and 50W ERTs (on water meters) to collect energy and water usage remotely. The Village also purchased Itron's Mobile Collector Lite, an easy-to-use, portable drive-by automated meter reading (AMR) solution that uses the Itron FC200 handheld, combined with a powerful radio transceiver to gather data. A single Mobile Collector Lite can read up to 10,000 meters on a single route. "Our goal is to have everything read remotely," said Lux, who has been the Public Works Superintendent since 1992. "We want to eliminate the errors, the problems with access to the property, the amount to time our meter readers are in the field—with Mobile Collector Lite, we accomplish all of that." The CENTRON electricity meter allows utilities to collect meter data automatically, helping to save time, improve reliability, increase accuracy and ensure data security. With the deployment of CENTRON R300 and FC200 handhelds, the city needs only one meter reader to gather data remotely, taking one day to perform all the reads. The higher-skilled linesmen were able to get back to the types of jobs they were trained for, and repair work that was taking three months due to delays now only takes three days. Errors from hand-written or manually-keyed computer inputting have been eliminated, improving business operations and reducing customer service complaints. Further simplifying the water meter reading process was the use of Itron 50W ERTs on meters already deployed. The meter reading process was cut from 11 to five days and eliminated numerous appointments to enter the home, which often required personnel to make more than one trip. "Our customers are happy not to reorganize their day for a meter reading appointment, our workers don't have to plow through mounds of snow or yards with a dog protecting it, and the Village saves money and time, allowing our staff to work on other more worthwhile projects," said Lux. "Everyone has more accurate bills without any inconvenience." By using Itron ChoiceConnect solutions, the Village of Springville has greater consistency in its billing process and is able to rely on solid figures as opposed to guessing budget numbers in the public works department. Lux serves on the Executive Board of the Municipal Electric Utilities Association where he represents 40 different municipalities throughout New York state. He said switching to AMR and remote reading is something small municipalities are interested in, but cautious about, due to the costs. These smaller municipals need to realize a savings in a very short time to make this economic commitment cost effective to their ratepayers. "We are confident that we will get back everything we put into this system within five years," said Lux. "In addition, we are working better, more efficiently and more economically. It encourages better use of our workforce and our natural resources."

A Splash of Innovation
		As the demand for water continues to increase, it becomes more important that water providers are able to precisely measure their customers' consumption. While different meter types offer accurate flow measurement at high flows, single-jet meters have a distinct performance advantage when measuring low flows. The Flostar meter by Actaris, an Itron company, is a single-jet meter that provides water providers with unsurpassed low flow and peak flow accuracy, ensuring that every drop is measured and accounted for. Utilities facing potential supply constraints and rising rates need to be diligent in metering to avoid under-billing or over-billing their customers' actual consumption.
Manufactured in Greenwood, South Carolina, the Flostar meter is the first single-jet meter designed to meet the latest American Water Works Association's C712 standard. Single-jet technology covers a large flow range with one measuring element, providing significant low flow accuracy as well as peak flow capability, with no need for external adjustment. A precision tapered large bore injector directs the water flow to the impeller, causing the jet to strike the blades tangentially on a large radius. This arrangement yields maximum torque, resulting in excellent low flow capability. A 2" Flostar can accurately register flow rates as low as a half gallon per minute, far lower than the minimum rate for the same size multi-jet or horizontal turbine meter. Maintaining accurate performance over time, key to the long-term cost benefit of a single-jet meter, is achieved by the reduction of component wear. Flostar's patented ball pivot virtually eliminates wear at the impeller pivot points. The ball pivot distributes the weight uniformly, lowering pressure on the pivot point and dramatically reducing friction and wear, unlike a conventional pin pivot that concentrates all of the supported weight onto a single point, resulting in high pressure, friction, and accelerated wear. The inverted configuration of the pivot also protects the ball from particulate contamination. In the normal flow range, the dual flow across the top and bottom of the impeller causes it to actually float between the upper and lower pivots. This hydrodynamic balancing further reduces contact between components, enhancing lifespan and ensuring consistent performance over time. Flostar features a direct magnetic coupling between the impeller and the register -- the impeller is the sole moving part in the metered water. The absence of an intermediate gear train means very low sensitivity to impurities in the water. The register is enclosed in a hermetically sealed copper can / mineral glass envelope. This protects the register even in the toughest environments. Flostar is pre-equipped with Cyble target technology to facilitate field implementation of AMR. Cyble communication modules provide the widest flexibility in selection of automatic meter reading equipment. The Flostar single jet meter is full compatible with the Itron 60 Series endpoints, making it easily read with Itron's ChoiceConnect™ suite of data collection systems, which include FC200SR handheld computers, and MC3 and Mobile Collector Lite mobile meter reading systems. It is also compatible with the 200W endpoints, enabling water utilities to leverage the advanced-metering capabilities of the Itron Water Fixed Network. Other design elements further contribute to Flostar's longevity. The maincase is constructed of a lead-free water works bronze alloy and has integrally cast flanges. The top-loading architecture provides easy access to the measurement chamber. The impeller is molded of fiberglass reinforced material with internally buttressed blades. This unique design is resistant to damage from rapid acceleration of flow or large water-borne objects. Since its introduction 15 years ago, the Flostar meter has become the most popular large single-jet meter in the world. Meter accuracy over time is the key to safeguarding revenues and reducing operation and maintenance costs. Flostar's patented measuring chamber and rugged design provide long-lasting, reliable performance and accuracy in any environment.