Summary
The City of El Campo, TX partnered with Ameresco to implement a turnkey water meter replacement and advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) system. This project aimed to optimize operations, achieve efficiencies, and improve water infrastructure. The solution involved identifying, designing, and installing a comprehensive meter reading system and AMI project, which included over 4,800 smart water meters and a customer portal. This upgrade enhanced the efficiency of the City’s water distribution system, reduced costs, and enabled the City to provide improved customer service to its citizens.
“We are excited to see all the advancements taking place in our community, which will provide our water utility customers with a greater level of accuracy and transparency into their water consumption levels and reduce our operational costs. Implementing a new and improved water metering system is a strong step forward for the City of El Campo as it continues to make efforts for a more sustainable future as we continue to grow.”
– Brittni Nanson
Director of Finance, City of El Campo
~10%
Reduced Water Loss
4,800+
Water Meters Replaced
~$90,000 Per Year
Revenue Recapture & O&M Savings
$3,300,000
Project Size
Customer Benefits
In addition to enabling the City of El Campo to provide enhanced customer service to its citizens, the water meter replacement and AMI system reduced overall operational costs. Other benefits of the project include:
- Improved accuracy in capturing metered water consumption
- Provided IT infrastructure necessary for advanced management of water consumption and distribution
- Enhanced customer experience by enabling customers to view their historical utility consumption data via a web portal for the new system
- Generates cost savings from reduced meter reading labor and fewer customer service and site visits
- Eliminates need for estimated meter reading and increases meter accessibility issues, subsequently reducing billing errors
- Reduced risk of meter failure leading to fewer service calls from customers in need of assistance
Solution
Ameresco conducted an Investment Grade Audit (IGA) to identify a meter reading system to help the City of El Campo optimize its water infrastructure. The project included the installation of smart water meters, a customer portal, and the IT infrastructure necessary to manage water consumption and distribution at a more advanced level. The project included:
- Investment Grade Audit including field surveys, meter testing, and data analysis
- Installation of 4,805 water meters citywide
- Implemented a fixed-base advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) system that allows for remote wireless reading of water meter data
- Identified, designed, and installed a comprehensive meter reading system as well as a customer portal
