The Town of Hinton has selected Neptune Technology Group to install 4,800 water meters for residential customers who are currently charged a flat rate.
Trent McLaughlin, director of development and infrastructure, who presented the report to council on Tuesday (March 25), stated administration typically wouldn’t bring a project in front of council for discussion if it was already budgeted for and came within budget.
“But given the impact on the community and how much we’ve talked about this project, I wanted to bring this forward just to close a number of doors and follow up on a number of conversations that we had throughout the water meter process leading up to where we are today,” McLaughlin said.
As Hinton eases into a new utility rate model, with the water rates a combination of flat rates and charges based on consumption, the Town needs to install residential meters and replace meters for commercial and industrial properties.
The Town had put out a request for proposal and received two: Neptune for $4.03 million and Metercor for $5.5 million. McLaughlin noted the Neptune proposal was the only one to come within the budgeted amount of $4.2 million.
“They were quite confident that they could do this job at this price without the tariffs affecting that,” he added.
Although Neptune’s bid amount was technically $3.53 million, a provincial $500,000 was added since the proposal included additional unit rate costs that require the Town to assume financial risk for unknown field conditions that will likely be encountered.
The cost for Neptune to install meters on residential homes is about $850 per meter installation for $4.03 million total. The yearly expense for software and maintenance is $24,735, and the meter communication system is $114,258.
These automatic meters send data every hour, eliminating the need for an employee to conduct meter reads at the end of a month. The Neptune system uses a radio network, but there is a cellular option for meters that can’t be reached via radio.
“After the meter is installed, you can actually sign up to be able to monitor your own water usage as well as receive email notification if you have a leak in your home,” McLaughlin said. “That has the real potential to minimize a person’s water bill if they do have a leak.”
Unlike the Metercor proposal, the Neptune system does not have the patented technology for detecting leaks in water mains. Coun. JoAnn Race asked if this was a concern.
McLaughlin replied that these leak detectors were prone to false positives, and the Neptune system would have pressure monitoring to help find leaks.
Race also asked where the meters would be installed for mobile homes. McLaughlin replied they would be installed close to their hot water tank.
From April to mid-June, Neptune will install the meter communication network as well as engage in public communication and an education campaign. Meter installation will occur from June to December.
The company will also work with administration to develop a full communications plan, have a customer service number and online appointment management and provide customers with an emergency 24-hour number during the installation phase.
