Innovative AMI Installations Help Hot Springs Lower Costs, Speed Repairs, and Improve Accuracy
The wastewater system in Hot Springs, Arkansas features over 3,000 residential grinder lift stations spread across the city’s rugged terrain. Currently, those residents must notify the city by phone if their backyard grinder lift stations go into alarm status.
This can cause extended notification delays, major headaches and general unpleasantness for both sewer customers and maintenance personnel.
To remedy this, the city is engaged in an ambitious multi-year improvement plan to install automated monitoring for all its sewer lift stations.
Traditional radio telemetry communication is too expensive due to steep hills, tree-line obstructions, and the number of lift stations in use.
However, AMI (advanced metering infrastructure) technology offers tremendously enhanced, two-way automated communication between each lift station and the city utility’s SCADA* system.
Our expertise in SCADA programming and advanced monitoring systems paid off:
We developed a solution using Sensus Flexnet AMI meters at each lift station–at a fraction of the cost of traditional radio telemetry systems.
Operations and maintenance personnel are now immediately, automatically alerted of alarm events at individual sites, and can remotely check on the live status and performance history of any site at any time, 24/7.
This option accomplishes the city’s automation goals despite multiple site issues, while costing much less to purchase and implement than other solutions. Currently under construction, these radio alarm meter installations represent another step forward in Hot Springs’ strategic SCADA Upgrade program.
*Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition
