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Kyle approves $2.85M AMI water‑meter system to speed reads, enable leak alerts and customer dashboards
Summary
City approved an advanced‑metering infrastructure (AMI) contract with AquaMetric for $2,851,705.52 to replace and upgrade water meters, enable a customer dashboard and create a system backbone for future distribution sensors and leak detection.
On Sept. 3 the City of Kyle approved a cooperative‑contract purchase with AquaMetric (Thirkell Corporation dba AquaMetric) to deploy an advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) system across the water utility. Director of Water Utilities Mike Murphy said the effort — budgeted around $2.9 million and proposed at $2,851,705.52 in the cooperative contract — will convert the current automatic meter reading to a two‑way AMI network with radio communications, base stations and a customer dashboard.
Murphy said the AMI system will allow near‑real‑time meter reads, automatic leak and abnormal‑use alerts to customers, improved billing accuracy, and the ability to add distribution sensors later (pressure, district metering, gate switches). AquaMetric representatives explained the system is designed with multiple security layers and that operational data will be hosted in secure data‑center environments; integration with the city’s billing software (Tyler) is part of the implementation plan.
Council members praised AMI’s potential to reduce water loss and spare customers surprise bills but asked about cybersecurity and how the network could be expanded for leak detection in larger mains. AquaMetric and staff said the proposed AMI radios and network will form a backbone for additional sensors and that hosting and encryption practices protect data. Council approved the contract (recorded 6–0).
Why it matters: AMI systems can help utilities detect leaks, reduce non‑revenue water and give customers tools to monitor use in near real time — potentially saving money for both the utility and ratepayers.
What’s next: Staff will begin implementation and software integration; vendors estimated a six‑to‑eight‑month time frame for core deployment with additional in‑house work to speed installation.
