[Durham INC] Important water meter information

Tue Sep 28 06:45:15 EDT 2010

Aaron:
With this new system, how quickly will the City inform residents of a  
water leak?
Currently, residents may not know until they get their bill 2 months  
later.
Lorisa

On Sep 27, 2010, at 9:28 PM, TheOcean1 at aol.com wrote:

  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 as well as the Water Meter Specification  
(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

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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

_______________________________________________
Durham INC Mailing List
list at durham-inc.org
http://www.durham-inc.org/list.html

Lorisa Seibel
Durham Affordable Housing Coalition
400 W. Main St. Suite 408, Durham, NC 27701
(919) 683-1185 ext. 25
(fax) 688-0082
Lorisa at dahc.org
www.dahc.org

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