Memorandum

City of Lawrence

Finance Department

TO:	David Corliss, City Manager
FROM:	Ed Mullins, Finance Director
Date:	April 3, 2007
RE:	Remote read water meters

Background 

The Finance Department began installing transmitters on water meters in 1999.  The transmitters have been installed in various hard to read locations that either presented a safety concern, ease of access problem, or took longer to read because of the distance between water meters.  We currently have over 1497 of the transmitters installed with the water meter.  A representative location is Stouffer Place on the University of Kansas campus.  The units are individually metered and the meters are located in large underground vaults that contain 30-40 water meters.  Reading the meters used to require two meter readers and navigating the small crawl space between meters.  With the transmitters installed we can read all of the units in minutes by merely driving by them.  Unfortunately due to the age of the transmitters, some are beginning to fail and must be replaced.  The following information is the Finance Department’s recommendation for the replacement of the older transmitters.

Analysis

Aside from a modest number of Itron transmitters used downtown, the remaining transmitters are manufactured by Ramar.   Since we began utilizing Ramar transmitters the company has undergone a sale and a reorganization.  We do not consider the company to be a reliable supplier nor are we pleased with the longevity of the product.

The local Ramar representative has presented the Finance Department with a proposal to begin using transmitters manufactured by Badger.  The city has a large number of Badger water meters installed, particularly in residential locations.  We are pleased with the quality and price of the Badger water meters and have received good reports from cities that have installed the Badger transmitters.

21In order for a laptop to read the information sent by the Badger transmitters, we will need to purchase new software.  In addition to reading Badger transmitters, the software will also be capable of reading the existing Ramar transmitters.  As a result, we will only need to replace the Ramar transmitters after they fail. 

Midwest Meter is the local representative for Badger and has presented us with a proposal for a new Toughbook computer, Orion reading software, training, and 70 water meters pre-wired with a Badger transmitter for a price of $21,500.  Based upon past bids the cost of the meters with transmitter would be $8750 and the laptop over $5000.  The Finance Department is of the opinion that the cost of the software and training for less than $7800 is very price competitive.  The Badger transmitters can also be installed on other water meters.  In addition, the department does not know of any other hardware/software combination capable of reading RAMAR transmitters. 

Recommendation

The Finance Department recommends purchasing the Badger Orion meter reading system because of the quality of the product and its ability to read our existing Ramar transmitters.  The software also has enhanced capabilities including the ability to display the meter locations on a map.  In addition, the Utilities Department has been purchasing primarily Badger water meters recently. 

With the over 130 of the Ramar transmitters needing replaced, the time to read the meters at these locations has increased.  Rather than replacing the failed transmitters with other Ramar units, the Finance Department recommends the installation of the Badger transmitters and the purchase of the Orion software and Toughbook laptop at a price of $21,500.  The Finance Department has $30,000 in its 2007 budget for the purchase.