Costs, Emissions Discussed in Water Meter Hearing

Cost and exposure proved the biggest concerns of residents in a Board of Public Works hearing Monday night about an FY 2013 capital budget line item proposing a fixed network meter system replace the existing water meters on Wayland homes.

Both were concerns the Board of Public Works anticipated, inviting Mark Abrahams of The Abrahams Group to address the cost issue and Wayland resident and physicist Robert Wenstrup to talk about the energy emitted from the sensors.

Department of Public Works Director Don Ouellette opened the hearing with an overview of the project’s costs and timeline. He said the age of Wayland’s current meter system, the potential return on investment over the lifetime of the fixed network meter system being proposed, and the ability to more quickly catch water leaks make this a good option for Wayland.

The current system was put in place in 1996-97 and has a life expectancy of 12-15 years. The meter guns used at present are “becoming problematic,” Ouellette said, as they are no longer manufactured, which makes maintenance and repairs expensive and difficult.

In addition, he said, the new system would save the DPW the cost of employing one individual who currently visits homes to manually check the meters.

The proposed fixed network meter system is a “dumb” system that simply sends information away from the water meter; as opposed to “smart” meters that are able to take action at the home, such as adjusting water or electricity flow.

Installing the system would cost about $700,000, and would save about $106,000 annually in labor and maintenance costs, meaning, Ouellette said, it would pay for itself within seven or eight years and has a life expectancy of 18-20 years. The initial investment is proposed to come from water cash capital and not through borrowing.

The meter works by wirelessly transmitting encrypted data readings four times a day to a central tower. From the tower, the information is carried via telephone wires to the Town Building where it would be stored on dedicated server.

Exception reports noting anomalies in water usage, such as unexplainable spikes, would be automatically generated and could catch leaks earlier, Ouellette explained.

He said the meters would improve data accuracy for the town and customers and would improve conservation. “Should help us tighten up our water accountability,” Ouellette said.

But residents had their concerns, primarily a concern about the Radio Frequency Emissions (RFEs) that would be used to transmit the data four times a day.

“A concern for a lot of people: Is this radiation dangerous? The answer is no.” Wenstrup said, adding that televisions and radios emit more RFEs than these meters.

Still, one resident asked for the meters to be implemented on an opt-in basis only since, as another resident pointed out, some people are highly sensitive to radiation.

Other residents asked that the $700,000 needed to purchase the equipment be used instead to maintain the old equipment and replace aging water pipes in order to prevent leaks.

Editor's note: Dr. Wenstrup's was incorrectly spelled in the original and has been corrected.