CASE STUDYCincinnati, ohHighlightsn Number of services: 241,000• 237,805 small meters• 3,195 large metersn Total projected savings through2012: Over $22.4 million• $21.4 million in salaries and• Over $1million in nonpersonnelovertimeand equipmentn Projected increased revenuethrough 2012: $27 million fromincreased meter accuracyn Reduced staff from 24 fulltimeto to 4 part-time meterreaders and another 37 otherpositions were eliminated/reassigned in the CommercialServices Divisionn Read success rate improvedfrom 85% to over 99%n Meter-related service callswere reduced by 50%n R900 Gateways deliver dailyreadings for select metersn Reading time cut from 90 daysto 30 daysn Time needed to verify completedwater shutoffs and declareproperties vacant after watershutoff cut by 75%Greater Cincinnati Water Works, Cincinnati, Ohio<strong>Neptune</strong>’s R900 ® System Keeps Deliveringfor GCWW – By Mobile and MoreclientA Massive Move to Mobile and Accurate ReadsAs the 21st century dawned, the Greater Cincinnati Water Works (GCWW) was strugglingto maintain an 85 percent meter reading success rate, sending out two dozen meterreaders for three months at a time to manually read nearly a quarter of a million meters.As tens of thousands of these reads were indoors in basements, the GCWW also had tomanage 30,000 customer house keys.Then-Commercial Services Superintendent Connie Roesch (now retired) tapped DaveBennett to head up a new project dubbed “H2O Radio”. In 2003, the GCWW partnered with<strong>Neptune</strong> <strong>Technology</strong> <strong>Group</strong> and installation contractor VSI Meter Services to change outevery meter in the system, equipping the new meters with ProRead registers and R900 ®radio frequency meter interface units (RF MIUs). By October 2007, the massive installationof the mobile system was complete.page 8
After implementation of its R900 ® System, Bennett’s team couldnow drive by meters, collecting the reads while eliminatingaccess issues. This meant all reads were captured in 30 daysinstead of 90, with far fewer personnel to read the meters.With the increased efficiency provided by <strong>Neptune</strong>’s AMR, theGCWW eliminated 24 meter reading positions – but without anylayoffs. Now, just four employees work a four-day week to gatherthe 241,000 reads each month, using <strong>Neptune</strong>’s MRX920 mobiledata collector. And even on those days, the four only spend afew hours (typically less than half of the day) reading, using therest of their shift for field service work or turning on water ataccounts that were shut off due to delinquency.Closure on Vacancies – Shutting Down Waterand Billing for Vacant AccountsThe process of delinquent-bill water shutoffs has also gottenmuch easier. In 2009, the GCWW purchased <strong>Neptune</strong>’s CE5320handhelds while also implementing a mobile work order system,wherein each field tech is required to obtain a meter readingwhile completing the task detailed in the work order. The abilityto obtain a meter reading on all work orders and especiallydelinquent work orders is very valuable to the organization. Thefield tech can simply enter the ID number of the R900 MIU andcapture the RF reading.accurate readings that can prove that no water has run through ameter, a definitive date of water termination can be determinedin a month or even less.“We can change the account status in the system to note thevacancy,” he said, “and we don’t have to revisit the meters.” TheGCWW has cut time wherein properties are determined vacantand the water is found still off by three-quarters. “It may notsound like much, but it is. It’s a lot of savings in time and labor.”Bennett said that the GCWW’s system-wide average readingpercentage was 98.6 percent in July 2012. Impressive, butthe percentage reached 99.5 percent when not counting theaccounts whose water is off but no reading is obtained. Theseare accounts where the meter setting is inside and wires are cutand/or meters have been removed without GCWW knowledgeor consent.Expanding Out through the Gateways<strong>Neptune</strong>’s migratable R900 RF technology has also helpedthe GCWW in its expanding efforts to provide water servicesBennett, now Supervisor of Water Customer Services, explainedthe importance of this technology in handling “off-date” accounts(vacant properties): “It used to take us six months from thetime we turned the water off on-site to the time we could geta definitive date confirming thatthe property was vacant and thenstop the sewer billing process.”Because of the historically longerreading cycle and the inability tobe absolutely sure that water wasturned off, Bennett’s team had towait. Now, however, with timely,“By adding the Gateway collectors to the existing mobilesystem, Cincinnati can read several large meters dailywithout the cost of rolling a truck to these outlying counties.This hybrid approach has proven to be a hugeadvantage in efficiencies for the City.”– Scott Elwell, Senior Territory Manager, <strong>Neptune</strong> <strong>Technology</strong> <strong>Group</strong>page 9
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