AMR Program Nearing Completion!
The Automated Meter Reading (AMR) program implementation is well on its way to completion!
With
the intention of finishing the installation by the time the snow flies,
the Datamatics crew has grown by an additional five technicians and is
working long hours to complete the project.
Firefly on post: most FireFlys are located
in the meter pit, but in some cases they are
installed on the post in order to better
trasmit and receive.
The
AMR system is called “Mosaic” and the device installed to monitor the
water meter is called a FireFly (pictured). There are over 5200
customer meters that must have FireFlys installed. To date, the crew
has installed approximately 3000. Of these, approximately 94% are
reporting consistently. The crew is finishing the Pagosa Lakes area
and is moving down Putt Hill to Town. The last portion of the District
to go on-line will be the Hwy 84 area.
How It Works:
Each installed Firefly within the Mosaic network area transmits a low
level signal through radio frequency to the nearest gateway. A
gateway is a data collector that sends its collected data to the web
based Mosaic system via the internet. District staff is able to view
meter usage and obtain billing information from the Mosaic system.
Every meter in our network, with its Firefly attached, acts as a signal
repeater, able to relay not only its own information to the gateway,
but also the information from neighboring meters. Mosaic’s dynamic
routing automatically guides data around obstructions, like hills or a
dense cluster of buildings. As new meters with Fireflys are added to
the network, they self determine the most efficient path to the nearest
gateway. There’s no limit to the number of “hops” the data can make on
its way to the gateway. This gives the network virtually unlimited
ways to get the signal from any meter to a gateway, and from there to
the District office.
How We Benefit:
Mosaic can alert the District to anomalies such as high usage, leaks,
and tampering. Another exciting advantage is that the signals are able
to transmit through snow. This will allow the District to bill based
on actual water usage throughout the winter. Also, over time, the
District will be able to assemble detailed water use profiles and
streamline water conservation efforts and outreach. Due to the
increased efficiency of operations provided by Automated Meter Reading,
we estimate that we will save nearly $500,000 per
year in related operational costs.
Please Note: PAWSD
asks that customers call the office to have their water meter turned
off or on by a service technician, in order that the FireFly is not
disturbed. This service is free during the business hours of Monday
through Friday, 8:00 am to 4:00 pm. Thank you!
