Digital water metering planned for City of Sonoma

If a homeowner in the Springs goes over their normal water usage, they receive a text message, offering regular reminders in California’s efforts to save water. But in the City of Sonoma, no such alert exists, leaving property owners to track usage on their monthly bill.

But that soon will change. Sonoma residents can expect to access their own water meters by an app, if the City’s Advanced Metering Infrastructure, or AMI, is implemented as planned. The app would offer customers a deep dive into their own water use, conservation habits and alert them to leaks or other extraordinary water use on their line.

Just don’t call them “smart meters.”

“The city is understandably sensitive to the term ‘smart meter,’ after what PG&E went through,” said Colleen Ferguson, the City’s public works director and city engineer. She explained the plans to implement a city-wide digital water metering network by 2025.

When PG&E introduced SmartMeters in 2010, such Wi-Fi data technology was relatively new at the consumer level, and some worried that the radiation emitted by the always-on devices would cause health problems. Then about 23,000 incorrectly installed meters overbilled customers with false readings, and the question was raised just how smart those SmartMeters really were.

Now, more than 10 years later, smart devices such as home assistance bots (Siri and Alexa), floor vacuums, refrigerators and doorbells have become commonplace, and only a few people remain worried about the radiation. Meanwhile data monitoring of water, power, gas and other utility usage has become not only widespread, but essential in city management.

Keeping up with leaks

“The goal is to have a system that would send an alert to a water customer as well as the city, so we can both take appropriate action,” said Ferguson in a recent conversation with the Index-Tribune. Should a leak or other anomaly be detected anywhere in the water distribution system, “we’d rather be in the position of finding out when it’s happening, and take action now.”

Sonoma is a member of the Sonoma-Marin Saving Water Partnership, a 12-utility group which coordinates water conservation in compliance with gallons-per-capita targets established at the state level. The partnership puts AMI high on their list of valuable means to conserve water resources in coming years, based on agency surveys.

In their own 2018 Water Master Plan, Sonoma requested that AMI be implemented “because other local providers have upgraded water meters to enhance customer service, improve water savings, provide near real-time water usage data, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.”

Among the local providers is the Valley of the Moon Water District, which in 2015 was an early adapter in implementing WaterSmart throughout their customer base, a task that has only recently been completed.

“Aside from the heavy lift of implementing and maintaining the system, we have seen significant water savings and customer service benefits both because the new meters are more accurate at low flows and because our customers are alerted of possible leaks much faster,” said Matt Fullner, executive director of the VOMWD.

The City of Sonoma water system has 4,505 municipal connections, and supplied 2,174 acre-feet of water in 2020 to its customers. Most connections are currently measured by Neptune T-10 meters that can accurately measure both high and low flows, making them better to spot fluctuations over time. They are read by drive-by city employees who gather the monthly water usage information – which is then presented on a customer’s bills.

But the ability to keep an eye on dynamic patterns of water use – in order to spot leaks or, in some cases, overuse by a particular customer – is considered a strong tool in a utility’s efforts to manage waste, and that’s where an AMI comes in. It would allow all meters to be connected in a digital network where water usage could be tracked by neighborhood or home almost immediately. If a sudden change in water use is detected, such as might be caused by a line break or a forgotten watering hose, the utility would receive an alert – and so too would the homeowner, via email or digital device. The homeowner can turn off the hose, but if it’s something more serious the city can jump in and help.

"This is a great way for customers to stay ahead of problems and keep their bills as small as possible,“ Fullner told the Index-Tribune. ”Our customers seem happy with the product and appreciate the extra level of assistance we can provide as a result of the system.“

Digital water use monitoring

The City is currently evaluating several new digital monitoring systems that can be scaled to their customers. The updated Neptune Mach-10, with its no-moving-parts, all-digital design, is one of several digital meters that might find a fit on customers’ water pipes soon. “We could continue to use Neptune meters but we’re going to keep open minds,” said Ferguson.

Another system: WaterSmart, the same one used not only by the Valley of the Moon but the cities of Windsor and Santa Rosa, as well as many other jurisdictions. Formerly a Bay Area startup, WaterSmart was acquired by VertexOne in 2020.

Its slick informative interface can process electronic payments, evaluate household usage, track consumption trends, recommend savings measures and even sound the alarm when a leak is detected.

A feasibility assessment and draft request for proposals have been developed for a network to “cost-effectively enhance customer service, improve water savings and provide near real-time water usage data to the City’s customers.”

The City plans to implement Advanced Metering Infrastructure before 2025 in all customer categories, according to the 2020 Urban Water Management Plan approved by the City Council in June. The funding for the program, which included a $2 million down payment by the City in its 2021-22 budget, is already figured into customer’s water rates, so no further adjustments should be necessary.

“The water rates were set at a level that will fund AMI,” said Ferguson. “It’s likely we’ll need to have financing in order to pay for it, but it will definitely pay for itself.” The project is expected to cost approximately $2.5 million over 15 years, but result in over $5.35 million in benefits from water use reduction.

There may, however, be a hiccup in Ferguson’s plans to bring AMI to Sonoma. The AMI project can move forward only after completion of the Water Supervisor recruitment process. So far, the City has been unlucky in hiring a qualified water professional to fill the role, instead relying on an industry temp service called waterTALENT to provide department supervision.

Though Ferguson hopes to fill the position by the end of the year, she acknowledged to the City Council on Oct. 4 that two previous recruitment efforts had produced only one applicant, who was not offered the position.

Chris Petlock, formerly the chief financial officer of the VOMWD, said, “When we did a salary and benefits survey at VOMWD for union negotiations, the pay and benefits offered by the City were not competitive with other agencies in the area.” Petlock currently works in Pleasant Hill, following his 10 years with VOMWD.

Ferguson announced on Oct. 22 that she would be retiring at the end of 2021; see story on A3.