The Joint Municipal Water and Sewer Commission (JMWSC) is in the process
of installing an Itron radio data collection system called Mobile AMR.
This system uses vehicles equipped with radio units to read ERT module-equipped
water meters via radio without the need to access the meter. Mobile AMR
dramatically improves meter reading efficiency.
A radio transceiver, called a Mobile Collector, is installed in a utility
vehicle. Route information is downloaded from the utility billing system
and loaded into the radio transceiver. While driving along a meter reading
route, the transceiver broadcasts a radio wake-up signal to all ERT meter
modules within range and receives the ERT messages when they respond.
Completed reads are uploaded to the billing system for bill generation.
Mobile AMR is usually
used in saturated areas where there may be large populations or difficult-to-access
or hazardous-to-read meters. As a result, meter reading efficiency is dramatically
improved. A single Itron Mobile Collection System, reading one route at
a time, is capable of reading up to 24,000 meters in a day. When reading
multiple routes simultaneously, the Mobile Collection System can support
up to 100,000 meters. The potential savings are substantial when compared
to the few hundred meters read per day on a typical walking route.
