Maine water district deploys Sensus technology for water management

The Kennebec Water District (KWD) in the US state of Maine is installing the FlexNet advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) communications system from Sensus for its water management programme across its network.

In the first nine months of implementation, the utility deployed two FlexNet base station collectors and 3,000 SmartPoints over existing metres.

The company, which serves a population of 22,500 with more than 1.2 billion gallons of water each year, is also replacing existing bronze-body water metres with zero lead Sensus iPERL metres.

KWD general manager Jeff LaCasse said the AMI communications network supports the utility’s entire territory with only three transmitter units.

"By removing the vehicles associated with manual meter reads, the system will achieve a return on our investment even more rapidly," LaCasse said.

Sensus’ FlexNet communications network will allow the utility to identify leaks, backflow problems or potential meter tampering and help customers alleviate wasted water, excessive charges and possible property damage.

The district estimates the deployment of SmartPoints will be complete by next year, while the Sensus iPERL water metres will be installed over the next ten years.