RALEIGH, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Weber Basin Water Conservancy District, located just north of Salt Lake City, is charged with serving more than 625,000 residents living in the second driest state in the nation. With 65 percent of the district’s water being soaked up by manicured lawns and lush gardens, “secondary” or non-potable water became an issue for the municipality. The district’s high consumption and flat fee for unlimited use challenged Weber Basin trustees to implement a change.
“We had a situation where customers were using as much water as they wanted because they didn’t have to pay any more for it,” said Weber Basin’s Assistant General Manager of Strategic Initiatives Darren Hess. “We didn’t want to bill our customers more but instead wanted them to understand how much they were using so they could proactively conserve.”
To revitalize the infrastructure and accurately measure water consumption, Weber Basin turned to Sensus, a Xylem brand. Weber Basin selected the Sensus Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) solution, which allowed the district to monitor secondary water systems and hold customers accountable for excessive use. When integrated with the district’s new software program, the utility can now deliver additional outdoor watering data and conservation tips to their customers.
“As people realize how much water one cycle of their sprinkler system uses, we can start to make a real difference,” explained Hess.
So far Weber Basin has deployed approximately 6,375 Sensus iPERL® water meters to accurately measure water flow data, including secondary water with abnormal amounts of silt or sediment. The meters were connected to the district office through the Sensus FlexNet® communication network, allowing staff to monitor usage and report issues to customers in near real time.
The implementation proved to be the nudge Weber Basin residents needed. By providing a comprehensive usage data report, depicting actual water use compared to the customers’ estimated need, 30 percent of customers promised to take immediate action and reduce outdoor watering. With better customer awareness, Weber Basin’s water usage was reduced by 30-40 percent.
“Before we installed the new solution, many customers were excessively using water out of sheer habit or were unaware that their sprinkler systems were set to run for so long,” said Hess. “Since upgrading to AMI we’ve found that our customers are welcoming the data we’re now able to provide.”
Read the case study to learn more about Weber Basin’s smart water network.
About Sensus
Sensus helps a wide range of public service providers—from utilities to cities to industrial complexes and campuses—do more with their infrastructure to improve quality of life in their communities. We enable our customers to reach farther through the application of technology and data-driven insights that deliver efficiency and responsiveness. We partner with them to anticipate and respond to evolving business needs with innovation in sensing and communications technologies, data analytics and services. Learn more at sensus.com and follow @SensusGlobal on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.
About Xylem
Xylem (XYL) is a leading global water technology company committed to developing innovative technology solutions to the world’s water challenges. The Company’s products and services move, treat, analyze, monitor and return water to the environment in public utility, industrial, residential and commercial building services settings. Xylem also provides a leading portfolio of smart metering, network technologies and advanced infrastructure analytics solutions for water, electric and gas utilities. The Company’s more than 16,500 employees bring broad applications expertise with a strong focus on identifying comprehensive, sustainable solutions. Headquartered in Rye Brook, New York with 2017 revenue of $4.7 billion, Xylem does business in more than 150 countries through a number of market-leading product brands.
The name Xylem is derived from classical Greek and is the tissue that transports water in plants, highlighting the engineering efficiency of our water-centric business by linking it with the best water transportation of all – that which occurs in nature. For more information, please visit us at www.xylem.com.
