Trimble® Unity Solution Enabled Significant Savings

Major California Water Utility Experiences Significant Savings Using Technology Solution from Trimble and Badger Meter

The initial rollout of the Trimble technology solution streamlined the Badger Meter deployment and produced a return-on-investment (ROI) in 3 months; with the full deployment projected to enable the DOU to achieve savings of approximately$1.6 millionover the 5-year meter deployment project.

Building an Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI)

The City of Sacramento DOU operates nearly 1,600 miles of water pipe with over 135,000 service connections and two water treatment plants. Metered service today totals about 58 percent of the city. The DOU is currently conducting a multi-year Water Meter Reading Automation (WMRA) program to provide 100-percent metered service with AMI meter endpoint. At the program's completion, the system will include 140,000 endpoints; approximately 25,000 are installed at present. Originally scheduled for completion by the year 2025, conservation concerns recently accelerated the program's end-date to 2020.

For the Advanced Metering Analytics (AMA) solution, DOU is deploying new endpoints with a BEACON AMA system using ORION two-way fixed network endpoints. To support the deployment and maximize efficient use of resources, the DOU selected Trimble Unity software, a unified, GIS-centric, collaboration platform for managing critical utility assets and field operations, and the Trimble Ranger™ 3 rugged handheld computers, equipped for use with the ORION SE network. The Trimble Unity Meter Change-out app, which supports meter deployment, installation and maintenance operations, was used for the WMRA project.

3-Month ROI and$1.6 MillionProjected Savings

The DOU realized its ROI for the Trimble Unity solution in just 3 months. The total projected savings attributable to Trimble Unity for the WMRA project are approximately$1.6 millionover the 5-year meter deployment project. These savings came from the elimination of extra trips to each worksite (installation and inspection are now completed in one trip, rather than two) and elimination of back-office manual data entry.

Trimble partnered with Badger Meter to modify the Trimble Ranger 3 rugged handheld computer with an integrated ORION transceiver for operation within the ORION two-way fixed communications network. For the WMRA project workflow, DOU office personnel schedule jobs in Cityworks; projects are then imported into Trimble Unity and dispatched to the field crews using the Trimble Ranger 3 handheld computers. The crews can use the Rangers to sync their jobs over Wi-Fi, program the meters, capture meter information and condition data, including the GPS location of each meter and photos if needed, and transmit the data to the back office, where personnel use Trimble Unity to review the project progress and export projects and data into Cityworks.

"The Trimble Unity solution has enabled the City of Sacramento Department of Utilities to streamline the AMA installation project work and allowed us to extend our Trimble Ranger 3 handheld investment beyond programming the ORION endpoints," saidElsie M. Fong, the WMRA Program Leader for DOU. "The Trimble app was designed to collect important water meter inspection data and eliminate an inefficient and risky manual paper process."

Trimble Unity Software Solution

The Trimble Unity solution is a unified, GIS-centric, cloud-based and mobile collaboration software platform that includes a suite of applications for managing critical utility assets and field operations. By integrating GIS and field operations, sensors and wireless communications, mobile workers and office professionals, and field and back-office enterprise systems, Trimble Unity provides a comprehensive solution for improving operations, reducing cost, enhancing customer service, and regulatory reporting. Trimble Unity is available through a software-as-a-service (SaaS) subscription.

According to Fong, "Working with the Trimble team was a great delight and we look forward to future projects together as we plan on integrating the Trimble solution with our work order and asset management system, Cityworks, expanding the workflow to maintenance work."

Source: PR Newswire

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• Technology
• Smart Meters
• Solutions