Olympia Selects Itron to Manage Water Resources

Itron has announced that the City of Olympia has selected its advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) solution to increase operational efficiency and more effectively manage its water resources. The solution will also enable the City to improve customer service and encourage water conservation.

Delivering high-quality drinking water to nearly 59,000 people, the City of Olympia needed a system that could cover its 26-square-mile service area, including the City’s urban growth area. With Itron’s flexible AMI solution, Itron will install more than 19,500 water communication modules with a fixed network for the majority of the utility’s service area and a mobile collection system for the remaining service area. In addition, the City will deploy Itron’s data collection software and network software solutions.

“Given the size of our community, the City is looking for a more efficient approach to meter collection. Itron’s solution gave us that. Also given the geography of our service area, the City of Olympia required a hybrid approach to meter data collection. Itron’s solution gave us the flexibility we required to deploy both fixed network and mobile data collection systems,” said Clark Halvorson, Water Resources Director. “This—in addition to Itron’s proven customer service—is what set the company apart.”

The AMI solution will give the City access to more water usage data, which can be helpful in identifying problems, improving water conservation programs and educating customers about their water use. Staff will have access to meter information sooner, which will allow quicker customer service responses to water leaks.

“It is Itron’s goal to help utilities shape the future. With our flexible architecture, utilities like the City of Olympia can deploy whichever data collection system—or combination thereof—they require,” said Paula Billingham, vice president of sales, marketing and delivery for Water North America at Itron.

Itron is a global technology company. We build solutions that help utilities measure, manage and analyze energy and water. Our broad product portfolio includes electricity, gas, water and thermal energy measurement and control technology; communications systems; software; and professional services. With thousands of employees supporting nearly 8,000 utilities in more than 100 countries, Itron empowers utilities to responsibly and efficiently manage energy and water resources. Join us in creating a more resourceful world; start here: www.itron.com.

Source:  Itron Press Release, May 7, 2013.