Citizens propose alternative water meter using fiber optics

Local citizens presented the Fairfield Water and Sewer Utilities Committee with information Tuesday about a possible alternative to the Neptune radio-read water meters the city has been installing for the last decade.

Brown and Palma told the committee this week they have been researching a metering solution capable of connecting the information from the meters to an interface. The interface would be compatible with Internet protocol. The men said they have been in communication with Cipher Systems, an engineering product design and development company. They believe the design under discussion with the Oregon-based company might hold the key to alleviating the city?s water meter woes and suggested the committee to investigate an IP metering system as a viable alternative for the city going forward.

The system would be compatible with the city?s existing fiber optic infrastructure. It also would be compatible with DSL and standard telephone line. If implemented, the system could change the face of meter reading in the future, the men said.

?The underground wired solution is obviously a desirable one for the consideration of the safety for Fairfield citizens,? Brown said in a statement. ?The proposed alternative is an appropriate response to the best interests and desires of the citizens.?

In addition to relaying information about the alternative meters, Brown and Palma presented the committee with a request for proposal to Cipher they drafted. They asked committee members to consider sending the RFP to the company, securing a bid for creation and implementation of the alternative metering option. The two men said they believe the bid for this alternative will come in below the cost the city would have incurred if wireless meters had been installed all at once.

?Even if the short-term cost would be equal or even if it were slightly higher, in the long-term, the cost savings would continue to grow significantly because of the permanent fiber infrastructure,? Brown said in a statement.

Flanagan acknowledged larger cities already are using fiber optics to meet metering needs. His concern, however, is cost. While fiber optic cable is now accessible to all residents of Fairfield, only one-third of residents have run service to their homes. The fiber cable runs in front of every home on the right-of-way and all homeowners could run service from the cable to their houses; however, doing so would be ?at a significant expense,? city administrator Kevin Flanagan said.

?Who pays for it?? he said.

Brown and Palma reiterated the proposed meters also could be used with telephone and Internet services, but committee members said there are homes in Fairfield without those services, either. To install the proposed meters, a connection would have to be made to one of these.

?Certainly, a fibered meter system is a very attractive concept and a lot of communities are going in that direction,? Flanagan said. ?However, as a community, we have some challenges with a system like that.?

As the city prepares to embark a $35 million sanitary sewer and treatment plant spanning the next two decades, Flanagan said Wednesday he has financial reservations about delving too deeply into the research of the technology. He said going forward, he will work with Brown and Palma during ?a discovery period.? He will not ask the city to issue a request for proposal at this time, Flanagan said.

. ?It?s not fair to throw out an RFP if you aren?t seriously considering doing the work,? Flanagan said. ?I?m not sure an RFP is going to be forthcoming, nor do I know what it would look like if we were going to send it out.?

Citing industry-leading CISCO as an example, Flanagan said he began research on his own and found there are many companies in addition to Cipher Systems capable of creating a metering system for Fairfield similar to the one Brown and Palma have suggested.

Flanagan commended Palma and Brown for their efforts, noting they have spent three months of personal time researching options. Flanagan said he will be meeting with the pair in the near future to discuss the matter further.

?I?m going to meet with [Brown and Palma] and with LISCO and get some numbers together, but it?s going to take some time,? Flanagan said. ?We?ll have to see what the feasibility of it is.?

Approximately 1,500 radio-read meters have been installed in the city since 2002 with no complaints until earlier this year when concerned citizens approached the city in opposition to use of the meters. Citing health concerns including headaches and heart palpitations, citizens asked the council to find an alternative for those not comfortable using the radio-read meters.

In response, the city council voted 5-1 June 25 to approve an amendment allowing residents to pay for installation of a touch-pad meter instead of the radio-read meter. To date, 36 citizens have signed opt-out forms and 25 radio-read meters already have been replaced. However, some citizens remained concerned.

The newly formed Fairfield Coalition for Safe Utility Meters presented the Fairfield City Council with a petition July 23 bearing more than a thousand signatures. The coalition remains committed to pursuing the meter issue until a safe alternative can be found and implemented.

?Fourteen percent of the adult population has signed the petition for elimination of [radio-read] meters,? Brown said. ?They have requested a safer alternative.?