Echologics signs with Las Vegas Valley
Echologics secured a one-year service agreement with Las Vegas Valley Water District to use the company’s leak detection and condition assessment services for one year with the option to renew for up to five years.
The agreement is the result of a successful pipe condition assessment pilot project completed in the fall of 2011 that included non-invasive testing of a 6.5-mile span of 16- to 24-inch mortar-lined steel cylinder pipe under main thoroughfares. The acoustic survey found that only 15 to 20 percent of the pipes had lost significant wall thickness.
Medicine Hat chooses MeterSense
The City of Medicine Hat, Alberta, selected MeterSense, a division of Harris Utilities, to provide meter data management (MDM) for its electricity, water and gas delivery services. The utility company will implement MeterSense as part of a larger advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) smart-meter project. The technology will enable the city to automate meter reading, deliver timely and accurate bills, build conservation initiatives, and provide customers with analyses of their consumption patterns. The city expects its smart-meter program to pay for itself in about seven years.
Honeywell helps western Virginia water authority
Honeywell has undertaken a water metering and infrastructure renewal program with the Western Virginia Water Authority in Roanoke to upgrade water meters across the customer base and enhance energy efficiency at its facilities.
Backed by a guaranteed systemwide water infrastructure improvement program, the $32 million project aims to increase meter accuracy, improve leak detection and reduce carbon dioxide emissions without adverse impact to the operating budget. The upgrades are expected to help save more than $1 million in annual electricity and operational costs and add $1.5 million in revenue through increased meter accuracy. Technicians will replace 58,000 water meters with electronic meters that wirelessly transmit real-time readings back to the authority. Honeywell will also install a data management system to provide a single, centralized view of the water system.
Miya gets contract to maximize Bahamas water system efficiency
Miya, a wholly owned subsidiary of Arison Investments signed a contract with the Water and Sewerage Corporation (WSC) in the Bahamas to maximize the efficiency of its water systems. The contract value is $83 million over 10 years.
The WSC supplies drinking water to some 250,000 residents. The project will be carried out in New Providence, the most populated island in the Bahamas. It will improve distribution utilities to reduce leakage of potable water, estimated at 50 percent. Within five years, more than half of the leakage will be reduced, saving 3 million gallons per day.
Madison utility selects Itron for AMI solution
The City of Madison (Wis.) Water Utility will implement Itron’s advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) for Project H20, the city’s program to automate the collection and analysis of water meter reads. The solution will allow the city to manage conservation initiatives, improve metering accuracy, and operate more efficiently.
The technology will enable residents to switch from biannual meter reads to monthly meter reads and measure consumption in gallons instead of cubic feet, making bills easier to understand. Customers will be able to view their hourly water usage information online. The utility will install 66,000 advanced data logging communication modules and a fixed network collection system as part of the metering upgrade.
Plattsburg gets funds for drinking water improvements
The U.S. EPA awarded $364,000 to Plattsburg, Mo., for improvements to its drinking water system. The purpose of the project is to increase the capacity of the water transmission main that conveys water from the treatment plant to the distribution system. The construction will include 9,200 feet of 16-inch iron pipe, water valves and fire hydrants. The project will reduce numerous leaks. The grant will partially fund the construction project, estimated to cost $661,800.
Dewberry selected for Baltimore water main project
The Dewberry national consulting firm will provide water design and engineering services for the Bureau of Water and Wastewater in the Baltimore (Md.) Department of Public Works. The contract, valued at $1 million, focuses on improving eight miles of the city’s aging water mains. The work includes water main assessment and determination of the need to rehabilitate or replace the existing infrastructure.
The Bureau of Water and Wastewater maintains 3,400 miles of water mains. Dewberry has completed a number of water and wastewater engineering projects for the bureau in recent years.
Woodard & Curran signs contract with Villa Rica
Woodard & Curran won a seven-year contract to staff, operate and maintain the City of Villa Rica (Ga.) water treatment facility. Villa Rica is a community of nearly 13,000 about 30 miles from Atlanta.
The city’s surface water facility has an average daily flow of 1.2 mgd. Woodard & Curran will retain the city’s six staff members and will oversee the identification, installation, and operation of capital upgrades over the next year.
American Water and Elizabeth, N.J., earn mayors’ award
American Water and the City of Elizabeth (N.J.) water and wastewater systems earned the 2012 Outstanding Public/Private Partnership Award from the U.S. Conference of Mayors. The award honors achievements made possible through the combined effort of cities and the members of the Mayors Business Council. American Water and the city were honored for the positive results of a public-private partnership and significant improvements to the city’s water and wastewater systems.
Needing to upgrade its 100-year-old water infrastructure and 150-year-old wastewater system, the city entered two long-term contracts with American Water. In 1998, the city entered a 40-year concession contract with American Water’s market-based subsidiary to operate and maintain the water system. Later, the city entered a 20-year operation and maintenance contract with the company for the sewer system.
During the partnership, American Water has made more than $4 million in water-related infrastructure investments, including systemwide meter replacements, and 700 new fire hydrants. On the wastewater side, E’town Services operates the city’s combined sewer system and has invested $1.4 million to rehabilitate brick sewers.
