The Common Council met 05/15/2024. One of the items that was separated out for an individual vote was the request from the Public Works Department to award a sole source contract to Badger Meter Syrinix for a leak monitoring system to be used to monitor leaks in the Water Utility.
The item was discussed briefly and then approved unanimously by the Council.
I’ve prepared a transcript of the discussion for download:
The purpose of this system was to proactively identify and stop water main leaks by installing 10 monitoring devices through the water main system.
Per the memo from city staff, the Wisconsin Public Service Commission (PSC) has standards in place that “requires water utilities to develop a water loss control plan if the non-revenue (water loss) is found to be over 15% on the annual water audit. If the Utility exceeds the 15% threshold for over 3 years, the PSC may require a citywide leak detection survey.”
Appleton’s water loss percentages have ranged between 19% and 24% over the last 5 years.
Alderperson Sheri Hartzheim (District 13) asked if the move to install these monitors had been prompted by a directive from the PSC telling the city to take action or if it was the result of city staff wanting to proactively take steps to adhere to the written guidelines.
Director of Public Works Danielle Block said they were being proactive given the knowledge that the city had been over the water loss limits for 5 years and at any time the PSC could step in and require action.
Alderperson Hartzheim asked if $90,000 for 10 sensors was going to be enough to make a substantial impact on the water utility’s water loss or did staff anticipate the need to install more monitors in the future.
Director Block responded that further expansion would depend on how the initial phase went and told the Council, “We worked extensively with Badger Meter in our discussions on right sizing the initial deployment and the locations where they could potentially go in order to give us the best results for this initial $90,000 investment.”
The Council voted unanimously to approve the item.
View full meeting details and video here: https://cityofappleton.legistar.com/MeetingDetail.aspx?ID=1182539&GUID=BC6AD851-EF73-4BFA-ABAA-D71B1E45A504
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