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‘Smart meters’ to ensure reduction in water waste
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Posted on Oct 18 2004
Responding to the governor’s request for a plan to find and eliminate the “lost” 40 percent of the CNMI water system’s sendout, the Commonwealth Utilities Corp. expressed confidence that the installation of “smart meters” next year would curb water wastage on island.
Reports on Saipan’s water system shows that 40 to 60 percent of water produced is lost to leaks, metering errors, and theft. Leakage in the transmission lines, distribution lines, and customers’ premises is the major cause of water wastage, CUC said.
CUC also said that wastage results from the customers’ lack of consciousness about water conservation.
Currently, customers in areas not receiving 24-hour water service are billed at a flat rate of $11 a month “because of the argument that meter readings include air flows.”
“Because these customers are paying flat rate, there is no incentive for them to repair leaks within their premises,” CUC said. “With the installation of smart meters [based on a new technology that do not read air flow through the meter], all CUC customers can be billed based on their actual consumption. This will result in reduction of wastage of water.”
The CNMI Water Task Force bid out and awarded the contract for the purchase of 4,000 units of smart meters to Guam-based JMI Edison, for $426,000.
CUC reported that the manufacturer and supplier of the smart meters have indicated that production of the meters will be completed by Nov. 30.
The smart meters are expected to be delivered by the end of December 2004 or early January 2005. Installation of smart meters will be contracted out for a timetable of six to nine months, CUC said.
The meters will be installed in areas not receiving 24-hour water service.
