San Antonio Water System Expands Service Area
Published on by Water Network Research, Official research team of The Water Network in Business
SAWS Began Merging Ooperations of Bexar Metropolitan Water District into Its City-owned Utility in 2012, Efficiencies and Improvements Were Critical to Manage Cost Savings
One of the key factors was the purchase of a substantial number ofROADRUNNER™ HandheldsfromDatamaticof Plano, Texas. SAWS selected Datamatic's ROADRUNNERS to replace units from a competitive vendor.
SAWS is a city-owned public utility that has relied onDatamaticto help read and bill water usage for over 25 years. In January 2012, SAWS began integrating the 65-year-old service area of the former BexarMet territory after its ratepayers overwhelmingly voted for the merger in November 2011. Steps for integrating the former BexarMet's approximately 80,000 meters and its meter reading operations took place immediately.
"The San Antonio Water System typically reads over 480,000 meters each month and we add another 8,000 to 10,000 accounts per year, and that's before the merger with BexarMet," said Alan Williams, SAWS Director of Customer Service. "That means that we must aggressively optimize our people, pipes and technology to meet the rising demand in such a dry area of the country. To maximize our efficiency and minimize the transition for the larger number of former BexarMet customers, we chose to expand our Datamatic ROADRUNNER™ System. For us, it was a wise decision."
The ROADRUNNER™ handheld is a powerful and versatile solution for utility meter reading. The unit can incorporate the latest optional technologies, including WiFi, GPS, Bluetooth, a laser scanner and a camera. When combined with Datamatic'sRouteSTAR Meter Reading Software, meters can be read with handhelds, with mobile radio equipment or via fixed network AMI technology.
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