Notice to All Water Customers Regarding Water Turn Off and Turn On
Water Treatment Facility at Hess Hathaway Park Grand Opening
Automatic Meter Reading Systems (A.M.R.)
 

Notice to All Water Customers Regarding Water Turn Off and Turn On

Please be advised that the Waterford Township Department of Public Works (DPW) is the only authorized agency to turn water on or off at the curb box.  Property owners will be liable for any repair costs to the curb box and/or DPW maintained service line by any unauthorized curb box turn off or turn on.  

To schedule a curb box turn off or turn on during regular business hours Monday-Friday from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM, please call (248) 674-2278.  For an emergency after hour or holiday curb box turn off or turn on, please call (248) 674-2278 and follow the prompts to notify DPW stand-by personnel.  

A service fee of $30 will be charged for each curb box turn off and turn on

 

Water Treatment Facility at Hess Hathaway Park Grand Opening

The newest water treatment facility at Hess Hathaway Park at 825 S. Williams Lake Road officially opened on Friday, September 25, 2009. This state-of-the-art iron removal facility is rated to produce 4.2 million gallons of water per day for the residents and businesses of the Township. It was designed to appear as a barn to seamlessly blend in with the Hess Hathaway working farm theme.  It joins eleven (11) existing water treatment facilities in the Township increasing water production capability to over 30 million gallons of water per day.

Supervisor Carl W. Solden along with Treasurer, Margaret Birch and DPW Director Terry Biederman get ready to cut the ribbon	The ribbon is cut.

Automatic Meter Reading Systems (A.M.R.)

The use of AMR technology to read water meters has many benefits including:

• Very fast and accurate data acquisition dramatically reducing the potential for estimated usage bills.
• Advanced customer service and safety features that include leak detection, backflow safety alerts, tamper alerts and sequential water usage data logging.
• Reduced liability due to limited exposure to safety hazards such as traffic, dogs and the elements by the meter reading personnel.
• Increased field and service work completion by meter reading personnel because of not having to physically read meters.   

AMR usage in the DPW has evolved from three (3) distinct phases outlined below:

Phase I (Winter 1999 - Winter 2004)- Drive-By (900 MHz System):

The DPW began utilizing Automatic Meter Reading Technology in the Winter of 1999 with incremental installation of a drive by 900 MHz radio reading system and still in use today.  Under this system, meter reads from properties are obtained by a radio receiver located in a DPW vehicle as it drives by the property eliminating the need for meter reading personnel to enter the property to read the meter.  As a result, meter reading routes that once took days to complete could be completed in a couple of hours.     

Phase 2 (Spring 2006 - 2008): Fixed Network (1.4 GHz System):

Waterford DPW initiated a 2nd generation AMR program in the Spring of 2006, which incorporated a fixed network collector system to automatically read meters without the use of meter reading personnel.  Under this generation of AMR, meter reads are automatically sent via radio to collectors positioned around the Township where they are forwarded to a website for processing.  As a result, meter reading routes that once took days to complete under the original reading process and hours under the Phase I process, only take minutes to complete. 

Phase 3 (Winter 2008 - Present): Fixed Network (450 MHz System with Smart Meters):

The DPW was selected by Neptune Technology Group in late 2007 to be a beta site for their new Fixed Network Meter Reading System.  Under this relationship, the DPW was able to provide input toward developing and improving the final production version of the system.  Combined with Neptune’s advanced high resolution smart water meters, this state-of-the-art reading system provides the DPW with thousands of meter readings per day and critical real-time email alerts regarding leak detection, reverse flows and meter tampers.  The units at the properties can also be placed into data logging mode to gather additional reading data to help customers with leak detection and other anomalies.

Waterford-Neptune R-450 Demo

To view a demonstration on how the Neptune fixed network system works, please click on the above link.  After launching the demo please click on the 'ARB Fixedbase AMI' Icon.

R450 Network Diagram

Please click on the above link for a look at how the R-450 System functions 

DPW Best Practice Highlight Videos:
 

Industry recognition of the DPW's succesful implementation and use of technology is outlined by the videos below. 

Computer Maintenance Management System (CMMS) Video (2010):
This video highlights how the DPW leverages spatial data via an advanced work management system.

Supervisory Control And Data Aquisition (SCADA) video (2008):
This video highlights how the DPW monitors and controls the Township's Water Treatment Plants, Sewer Pumping Stations, Water Tanks and other infrastructure in real-time.



Post Newsweek Technology Award:
Waterford Township DPW was recognized as one of ten (10) Agency Award winners for the use of technology in optimizing operations of the department in 2002.  The other nine (9) Agency Award winners were the Army Information Management Support Center, Customs/Arizona Customs Management, Defense Manpower Data Center, Federal Education Department, Navy/Fleet Numerical Meterology and Oceanography Center, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Securities and Exchange Commission, Walter Reed Army Medical Center and Wisconsin WISDOM.
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