When water utility managers in Bedford, Texas, determined it was time to replace the city’s aging water infrastructure, they anticipated it would be a long and potentially challenging undertaking. However, by selecting a manufacturing partner with a comprehensive solutions portfolio as well as turnkey distribution and installation partners, the Public Works Department achieved a successful and completely transformative infrastructure replacement project in less than two years. The project, which began in 2017, helped make Bedford one of the first cities in the country to deploy a smart water solution utilizing a secure LTE cellular network.
Recognizing a Need
Bedford, which is located between Fort Worth and Dallas in North Texas, serves more than 49,500 water and wastewater customers across its 10-square-mile city limits. In 2013, the city conducted a system survey and found that its water meters were in need of restoration and replacement.
“Following our analysis, city officials realized our water system was not monitoring and recording water usage as well as we’d thought. It was time to develop a plan to renew and upgrade the system,” said Kenny Overstreet, director for Bedford Public Works. “Initially, we looked at implementing brass meters with a drive-by system. But after surveying our system, we saw the limitations of these solutions. Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) technology, on the other hand, offered an option that better fit our needs and was more cost-effective in the long term.”
Selecting a Flexible, Cost-Effective Solution
After the successful completion of a two-month pilot program, the Bedford Public Works Department entered into a contract with Badger Meter following City Council approval. Combining the BEACON AMA software suite, ORION® Cellular LTE endpoints, and EyeOnWater® smartphone/tablet application, Badger Meter helped to deliver a simple yet powerful end-to-end solution for Bedford.
“Using Badger Meter’s BEACON AMA solution helped us eliminate the time and cost needed to install and maintain communications towers and provided flexibility for our city,” said Overstreet.
BEACON AMA is a cloud-based software suite; therefore, water utilities like Bedford do not need to maintain servers or traditional utility-owned fixed-network infrastructure.
Rebuilding and Reshaping
Over the course of 18 months, Bedford’s Public Works Department worked with Badger Meter’s project management team and the installation subcontractor, U.S. Bronco Services Inc., to manage the intensive capital improvement project.
During the course of the work, Bedford not only replaced its water meters, endpoints, and software but also replaced 75 percent of its meter boxes and plumbing. At completion, the city had deployed approximately 15,500 E-Series residential- and commercial-sized meters with ORION Cellular LTE endpoints and began using BEACON AMA to manage its entire water system.
The Benefit of Accuracy
“Almost immediately following the installation of our new E-Series Ultrasonic meters, we saw a 20 to 25 percent increase in data accuracy. Today, now four months after the completion of this momentous project, we are still reading between 99.9 and 100 percent accurate across our system. Never have we had this sustained level of accuracy,” said Overstreet.
Customer service also significantly improved. Both the Public Works Department’s customer service team and the city’s water customers are now able to see and understand their water consumption.
“We have received fewer customer complaints overall. Also, the ability to talk with customers using data that we know is accurate and reliable is vastly reducing the time we spend managing customer issues,” Overstreet said.
Four months after project completion, city staff are experiencing continued success and the transformation of Bedford’s water system into a “smart water” operation has vastly improved the efficiency of water operations. The achievement — driven by a successful combination of ingenuity, technology, and teamwork — has helped make Bedford a pioneer in deploying a smart water solution using the LTE cellular network. WW
Badger Meter is a leading manufacturer of products using flow measurement and control technologies. Learn more at www.badgermeter.com.
