Moapa valley water district intends to upgrade 400 old and malfunctioning meters with new badger meter 5 8 positive displacement disc meters and orion cellular LTE-M endpoints

The Moapa Valley Water District received a $213,351 federal Project Grant award from the Department of the Interior's Bureau of Reclamation WaterSMART (Sustain and Manage America's Resources for Tomorrow) program (CFDA 15.507) on June 20, 2023. This grant will fund the District's project to upgrade 400 old and malfunctioning water meters with new Badger Meter 5/8" positive displacement disc meters and Orion cellular LTE-M data endpoints. The project also includes replacing 64 existing meter boxes and 270 meter lids that have reached the end of their service life. The upgraded metering system will collect and transmit 15-minute water usage data through a cellular network, allowing the District and consumers to access real-time water usage information to improve water management and conservation.

Additionally, crew members will replace approximately 64 existing meter boxes and 270 meter lids that are beyond their service life to help preserve the new meters. The proposed project will require 2 hours to remove and install each upgraded meter. Moapa valley water district plans to complete the project at a rate of 35 meters per month to finish the project within the two-year allotted timeframe. The upgraded cellular endpoints collect data from the meters at 15-minute intervals and store the information FOR45 days. Four times each day, the endpoints send stored data through a cellular network to a cloud-based datamanagement system. Using this upgraded system, both moapa valley water district and consumers will be able to access information regarding water usage to improve water management.moapa valley water district will additionally utilize GIS to manage upgraded assets. The new metering system will operate through badger meters fixed network data collection system and integrate with moapa valley water districts GIS data to support predictive rather than reactive management. Importantly, the upgrade will allow moapa valley water district to conserve resources required to complete monthly meter reads and more accurately identify when meters begin to show signs of failure.