Ferguson representative outlines smart water meter upgrade, highlighting leak detection and remote disconnects

A Ferguson field-services representative on behalf of the vendor presented a proposed advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) smart-water meter system and told the Lancaster City Council it would allow hourly reads, automated leak alerts and remote disconnect/reconnect capability.

Mr. Watson, the presenter, said the system provides “hourly pressure reading[s],” 120 days of hourly history in each meter and a customer portal that can show usage by the hour, enabling staff to spot unusual runs of water. “It’s your own highway. You own the highway. It’s your FCC frequency,” he said, describing a dedicated radio network the vendor would lease to the city and nearby utilities to reduce the need for new towers.

Why it matters: Council members and staff pressed the presenter on practical effects for customers and operations. The system, the presenter said, can flag a continuous run of water within 24 hours and generate automated alerts so billing or public-works staff can contact residents sooner than with manual reads.

Council members asked about recurring software and hosting costs and where data would be stored. The presenter said the server is located in Raleigh with backups in Boise and Toronto and described the vendor’s promise of high uptime. A council member asked bluntly about cyber risk: “As far as the cyber security of the network, what happens if somebody hacks the system and the whole town’s water gets turned off?” The presenter responded that the vendor monitors systems “24/7” and regularly rotates credentials and other protections.

The presentation covered meter hardware and deployment details: recessed lid radios to protect devices from lawnmowers, magnetic low-flow measurement, and multi-year warranty structures the presenter described verbally. He said the system can reduce non-revenue water based on other utilities’ results, citing a customer that reduced water loss from 26% to 4% after conversion.

On customer outreach and operations, staff and the vendor described a communications plan that would include door hangers, direct mail, Facebook and utility-bill notices, plus a “communications toolkit” of templates for the city. The vendor said crews would knock on doors before meter changes and leave a city-approved door hanger with contact information. For disconnections and reconnections, the vendor described remote controls but said the city must set internal policies on who may authorize reconnection.

What’s next: The council did not take action on the presentation. Staff and council members raised follow-up items — a written cost estimate for recurring software fees, written cybersecurity details from the vendor, and a deployment timeline and outreach plan — before any procurement decision.