25G - AGMT METER INFRASTRUCTURE - Laserfiche WebLink

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16 AMI Feasibility Report I Client Name: City of Santa Ana Cost savings for 3,717 meters not replaced (includes meter and installation cost) is $599,000. However, these are old meters and may require registers to be upgraded, cost of registers and installation is $465,000. This leaves a saving of $134,000 compared to the detailed case where 37,739 meters are to be replaced against 34,022 meters as in this case. We must be careful in this comparison as we are considering meters that are over 10 years old that are not recommended for upgrade to AMI. This may result in more cost as these meters may fail in a short period leading to further cost of replacement and maintenance. Decision must be made on a number of factors including accuracy, age of meters and their condition to decide if they will be upgraded to AMI or replaced. 4.4 DISCUSSION OF CURRENT OPERATION OF METERING AND METER OPERATIONS 4.4.1 Backflow (Negative Readings) Generally, occasional backflow conditions if they occur are not captured by the traditional water meters or the periodic meter reading process. City may require customers to install backflow prevention devices where necessary, however device failure or non-compliance can result in inadvertent backflow. This is not a significant water service revenue issue or an issue related to wastewater services as this service charge is based on the water service meter and City currently uses fixed charges. However, this can be a potential health and safety problem as the backflow can result in contaminants entering the City water system and being transferred to other customers. The AMI system, with its finer resolution interval data collection, along with potential backflow alarms, can provide indication of potential locations and City can alert customers to this condition or take necessary action. 4.4.2 Current Replacement Practices City has a budget for annual meter replacement.that covers about 1500. meter changes each year. The meters are replaced depending on the size (as large size meters are usually repaired unless they are too old) if they are not performing to the desired accuracy level, or become defective. City also repairs meters that are 3" and above, if they are old (20 years plus), then the meters are changed. Smaller size meters are not repaired, in case of 2" meters, the registers may be replaced if necessary. However, since the majority of the existing meters will be replaced in the AMI program, the average age of City meters will be reduced and the need to replace and repair meters will likely be reduced for several years after implementation of the AMI program. This will mean that resources and dollars currently supporting this effort will be available for other purposes in the near-term. 4.4.3 Tampering and Theft City has not reported significant number of tampering and theft cases. However, AMI meters will provide tampering alarms that need to be investigated by field staff. Even if City has not seen significant theft and tampering, AMI will provide functionality that can deter potential tampering and prevent revenue loss by early detection of theft 25G-134