[Durham INC] Important water meter information

Mon Sep 27 21:28:10 EDT 2010

I'm rarely at a loss for words, but I struggle to describe the  combination 
of stupidity and brilliance shown by our water dept.lately.  
I spoke with one of the engineers recently, and it seems the concerns that  
got my panties in such a wad were unfounded, the raised meters posing trip  
hazards, were going to be lowered again anyway.

>From my recent conversation and the email below from an outstanding  water 
dept engineer, it seems that the meters we currently enjoy (flush to the  
ground) were installed decades ago and were too close to the surface in  some 
cases to avoid a freeze hazard, and other issues too technical to  describe. 
Very old mistakes, that could be taken care of along with the new  upgrade 
of readable meters that are also being installed currently. If I were  the 
PR dept for the water dept. (which I'm obviously not) I'd be  screaming "hey, 
look at us taking care of two problems at once".

It would appear that the water dept should be patted on the back for taking 
 care of an ancient problem while outfitting the city for the future, but I 
still  think they deserve a whack on the butt for their failure to 
communicate. 

The Herald Sun in a recent editorial comment, "Anderson is a pro  at 
communicating his desires, and the water department could learn a lot about  how 
to get information into the public sphere." 

I'm very seriously complimented, but let's be honest with each other. The  
water bills reach everyone who gets water in Durham, and that bill contains  
a city newsletter, and it reaches ten times the number of Herald  
subscribers, yet nary a word of this has reached those masses. 

While I felt pretty lonely complaining in this public forum, I heard  from 
plenty of you that shared my concern about the trip hazard. I hope you are  
as pleased as I am to learn the meters will be flush with the ground again  
someday, and that the water dept has also killed two birds with one stone.

But I still have to ask, "Why are you hearing that from me instead of the  
water dept itself?" 

Aaron, the engineer below, seemed both brilliant and dedicated, and quite  
capable of communicating.
Since I don't wish to be the water dept's spokesperson, I asked him if he'd 
 be willing to speak to my neighborhood or any others that might be 
interested.  He seemed more than willing, so contact him directly if your 
neighborhood wishes  to learn more about the meters already installed, or the ones to 
 come.

Bill  Anderson

In a message dated 9/25/2010 5:24:14 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,  
Aaron.Blankenship at durhamnc.gov writes:

Mr. Anderson, 

I am responding per your request for an email pertaining to  the 
conversation we had this week about the service work that will be required  at your 
residence. I would also like to address any Home Owners Association  that you 
may be a part of that has questions regarding the Water Meter  Replacement 
or the Meter Service Specification.   
The specification for the waters  meters in the City of Durham has always 
required 8”-10” from the bottom of the  lid to the angle valve on the meter 
service. Many water meter services have  settled or have been installed at 
the incorrect height over the years. Water  and Sewer Maintenance had moved 
forward to correct this issue to allow the  meter service to fit the profile 
of the new water meters and to protect from  any freeze hazard. Water and 
Sewer maintenance had been moving in front of the  meter replacement 
contractors raising the meter boxes to accept the profile of  the new water meters in 
an effort to complete entire Billing Districts. Water  and Sewer 
Maintenance crews had been raising water meter boxes and creating  Service Orders for 
the Service Crews to come and either lower the water meter  service or in 
the event that the water meter box has settled below grade over  time to raise 
it up and landscape (top soil, grass and straw) the area  adequately. The 
Service Crews are working in the order that the Service Orders  were created 
and will be lowering or landscaping any meter box that has been  raised 
above grade. All Water Meter Boxes that had been raised above grade  will be 
lowered to grade.  
The new water meters are not  required to be above ground to perform as 
intended. The new automatic meter  reading (AMR, Neptune’s R900i E-coder plus) 
water meters function in a meter  pit setting with an external antennae for 
maximum range (up to one mile with  low humidity and optimum topography) or 
an internal antennae for limited range  (optimum range of 300 yards). The 
City of Durham has been testing these meters  in difficult environments for 
the past three years and has been testing the  technology for the past nine 
years. The new meters have an LCD display that is  solar powered, require no 
battery for metering processes and are equipped  internally with batteries 
for broadcasting purposes. The new meters, upon  opening the lid will show a 
code and alternate between a reading and a flow  rate (flow rate is in cubic 
feet per minute – 7.48 gallons per minute) and a  flow direction arrow. Your 
new water meters will have nine digits registering  to the one thousandth 
of a cubic foot (000000.001 or 0.000134 Gallons). Meter  Readers (AMR and 
manual) will read the whole numbers of the reading, the  numbers below the 
decimal place are for testing purposes only and not used in  billing. Also every 
meter employs a leak detector which in the case of the AMR  meter will show 
as a water faucet with a drop of water in the upper left hand  corner of 
the LCD display. If the leak indicator is flashing it indicates an  
intermittent leak, water has been used for at least 50 of the 96 15 minute  intervals 
during a 24 hour period. if the leak indicator is solid it indicates  a 
consistent leak, water usage for all 96 15 minute intervals during a 24 hour  
period.   
I have included a link to the  different functions and properties of your 
new _AMR  Water Meter_ 
(http://neptunetg.com/userfiles/file/products/E-Coder%20Solid%20State%20Absolute%20Encoder/10-NTG-461%20PS%20E-Coder%2003_10.pdf)  
as well as the _Water  Meter Specification_ 
(http://www.durhamnc.gov/departments/works/pdf/water_and_sewer_book.pdf)  (page 20) available on the City 
of Durham’s  Engineering web page. I am excited to be a part of the City of 
Durham’s AMR  process which will help achieve a new level of customer service 
and provide  information to our customers about our water resources.  
If you have any questions or you  have concerns after the work is completed 
please contact me at 919-560-4344  Ext- 35355  
Thank you 

Aaron  Blankenship 
AMR  Coordinator 
City Of Durham  NC 
Water  Management 
(919) 560-4344 ext  35355 
(919)  236-7384 
Public Works Operations  Center 
1100 MLK  Pkwy 
Durham NC  27707 

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