Peak Oil Task Force Report - City of Bloomington - State of Indiana

MEDIUM­TERM (5‐15 years)
1. Explore the possibility of using smart meters to track water consumption.
A smart water meter would identify consumption in more
detail than a conventional meter and would communicate
that information back via a network to CBU for monitoring
and billing purposes. This would give the consumer better
feedback on use and cut out the need for staff to visit
individual homes to read meters. Such technology has been
successfully implemented in college communities such as
Ann Arbor, Michigan 78 and was recently instituted throughout Britain. 79
2. The City should continue to expand its alternative energy generation so that it
derives 25% of its water treatment from alternative energy by 2025.
LONG­TERM (15­30 years)
1. The City should strive to make its water treatment and processing completely
grid independent.
2. The City should work toward more neighborhood­based cistern options for
potable water.
While harvested rainwater could be used as potable water, the required on‐site treatment
and perceived public health concerns represent cultural hurdles. These hurdles will take a
long time to address, but a long‐term goal is to transition to more use of neighborhood
cisterns.
Report of the Bloomington Peak Oil Task Force
Source: Associated Press
78 http://blog.tdworld.com/briefingroom/2009/03/25/city‐of‐ann‐arbor‐wins‐metering‐international‐
award‐with‐implementation‐of‐the‐aclara‐star‐network‐system/
79 James Kanter, “Britain Announces Broad Smart‐Metering Plan,” The New York Times, May 12, 2009
http://greeninc.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/05/12/britain‐announces‐broad‐smart‐meter‐
plan/?scp=4&sq=peak%20oil&st=cse
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