Do We Really Need Water Meters?
By: Brad Linzy
HYPOTHESIS:
Water metering is not needed in Evansville. A Flat Rate scheme might be preferable.
ARGUMENTS:
A lot has been said already about the Evansville/Johnson Controls (JCI) Smart City 2.0 deal in fiscal terms, but little has been said about the technology itself and how a smart meter that measures water actually works. Anyone who has experienced the frustration with digital device running out of battery power can attest to the fact that sometimes flashy, feature-laden devices aren’t always superior in long term reliability or build quality.
In the last 30 or 40 years everything from clocks, barometers, hygrometers, thermometers, odometers – basically anything with “meter†at the end of it – has been given an electronic makeover. While economies of scale have generally made these devices cheaper and sometimes easier to use, they also have suffered from designs that rely on batteries to operate and are considered disposable in nature.
The idea of making water meters “smart†obviously has its advantages. Some of those include remote reading, elimination of data entry, real time monitoring by consumers, remote control of valves, early leak detection, to name a few. In fact, they seem like a great idea on the face of it. But not so fast…
There are three aspects of this deal to which I object – the timing of it, the long term reliability of the technology, and finally the assumed need for meters in the first place. Enough has already been said about the timing of the JCI deal, so I will focus instead on the latter two of my three complaints.
The major downfall of smart water meters lies in the fact they need batteries to operate, and not just any batteries, they need expensive Lithium Thionyl Chloride batteries, which according to a Silicon Labortories report add $10-$15 to the cost of each meter (compare that with the average $20 cost of old mechanical meters), and they also happen to be regulated as “dangerous†for transit and require a qualified technician to change. (1)
Furthermore, according to my research and a phone conversation I had with a technician at Elster, one of the largest manufacturers of smart meters in the US, any smart water meter sold in the US will not be field serviceable due to OSHA regulations, i.e. the batteries cannot simply be changed while the meter is connected to the pipe. The meter will have to be taken out of service and a replacement meter installed. The lifespan of Lithium Thionyl Chloride batteries under optimal conditions is 20 years, but the industry standard for smart meter manufacturer warranty is 15 years of service life. (1)(2)(3)
I have not read the full contract for the JCI deal, but I do know there is a service and replacement agreement for up to…you guessed it…20 years. This raises a couple of pressing questions. What are the exact terms of the service and replacement portion of the contract? And what happens after the contract is up and the meters start dying one by one because of the inherent limitations of their power source? Are we going to be right back in a similar boat in 20 years? (4)
My guess is, yes. In 20 years’ time, the next generation of Evansville leaders will experience the wages of our ill-conceived plans. They will look back with 20/20 hindsight, analyze the long term return on investment and realize throwing away all our old, boring yet reliable mechanical meters was a mistake. But hidden away beneath the blanket of our assumptions is a larger question about water in the “River Cityâ€. Why are we metering our water at all?
Meterless water billing is quite common in most parts of the world, and even in some developed nations like the UK. Water departments in these places use different schemes, but flat rates and “assessed volume†charges, based on the size and characteristics of a property, are the most common. (5)
This might sound alien to some of us, but think about it: are there any among us whose actions change because of our water bill? Do any of us really open up our bill and think, “if only I hadn’t washed so many dishes and clothes last month, I could have cut this bill in half,†or, “man, if only I would stop showering and flushing the toilet, this bill would go down� The truth is, we use the amounts of water we use because that is the amount we need to use for whatever lifestyle we’ve carved out.
These visions of a future where residents conserve water diligently because they can view their real time usage are just utopian dreams. We all know the truth, and the truth is these meters will raise revenues for the water dept. because, at least for the service life of the meters, they will be slightly more accurate. It’s only about raising revenues. JCI’s own website uses this argument of raising revenues in their sales pitch. Even if this plan fell on its face, the water dept. is already asking state regulators for a rate hike because they have a shortfall of revenue. So the bottom line is they need X dollars to operate and they are bringing in less than X. The rates will rise whether we like it or not, so the real question is, do we need state of the art, battery-powered meters that will fail within 20 years’ time, or is there another way?
CONCLUSIONS:
The JCI deal is wasteful. It will add to the debt burden of the people of Evansville with very little perceivable reward. There are some good aspects of smart meter technology, particularly if you live in places where water conservation is paramount, but the “River City†can hardly be called such a place. Furthermore, the design limitations, namely the limitations on power supply and OSHA regulations against changing the Lithium Thionyl Chloride batteries, poses a serious future liability in 20 years’ time when the service and replacement contract runs out.
A water pricing structure based on a tiered system with flat rates and assessed volume billing would work better than the current volumetric pricing system. Such a system would save the people of Evansville a $46 million debt, would be cheaper on average for residents, and would have minimal effect on actual water usage. After the first month or so, everyone would get over what little thrill there was in leaving on a faucet or garden hose and things would be normal. The water dept. operations and billing would be streamlined, passing the savings (of both meter reading and the JCI deal) on to customers. The old residential meters could remain in place to aid in leak detection, but would not be used for billing. Our rates will rise for water no matter what path we take. The cheapest path for all is to rethink the system from the ground up, not move to “smart†meters with a limited service life.
SOURCES:
(1) Silicon Labs “How to Design Smart Gas and Water Utility Meters for the Utmost in Power Efficiencyâ€
http://www.silabs.com/Support%20Documents/TechnicalDocs/Low-Power-MCU-Metering.pdf
(2) MSDS FOR LITHIUM THIONYL CHLORIDE BATTERY
http://www.uscg.mil/hq/cg4/cg432/docs/msds/MSDS_IceBatteries.pdf
(3) Elster Metering Model SM700 Data Sheet
http://www.elstermetering.com/downloads/SM700_4pp_090311.pdf
(4) IURC Joint Petition
http://www.in.gov/iurc/files/44123order_081512.pdf
(5) Overview of Meterless Water Billing Schemes in the UK
http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/wales/consumer_w/consumer_energy_and_water_supply_e/consumer_water_supply_e/consumer_paying_your_water_bill_e/paying_for_water_without_a_meter.htm
