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Allen Davidson: Modernizing to Conserve Water at Rowland Water District
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inding new and better ways to manage finite water resources is a vital task for any water district. Effective system management saves water and reduces costs for the district and its customers. Rowland Water District (RWD), based in Rowland Heights in Los Angeles County (L.A. County), is doing just that with its new smart metering program, which is greatly improving leak detection, reducing reading time, and improving efficiency for the district and the communities it serves. In this interview, Allen Davidson, RWD’s field operations supervisor, tells Municipal Water Leader about the innovative smart meter system and how RWD intends to continue being on the forefront of implementing new technologies into the future. Municipal Water Leader: Please tell us about your background and how you came to be in your current position. Allen Davidson: I started in the water industry in 2006, working for the City of La Habra as a maintenance I worker. I worked there for about 5 years and then got a job at RWD. I came in as a maintenance I worker and did that for about a year before working into a maintenance II position, running the crew out in the field. I did that for another 2 years before being promoted to the position I’m in now, field operations supervisor. I’ve been doing this for about 7 years and have been at RWD for about 10 years. Municipal Water Leader: Please tell us about RWD. Allen Davidson: RWD was established in 1953. Our service area encompasses a 17.2‑square-mile area in southeastern L.A. County. We currently provide potable and recycled water to approximately 58,000 people. We have 13,500 service connections in Rowland Heights, Hacienda Heights, La Puente, and the cities of Industry and West Covina. Municipal Water Leader: Why did the district decide to convert to smart meters?
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to and from our office. We work to reduce fuel and carbon dioxide emissions. Basically, we seek to increase efficiency and reduce operating costs for our customers. Municipal Water Leader: What kind of meters are you using, and how did you select them? Allen Davidson: We chose to go with Master Meter’s Allegro AMI system. On our first go around, we moved from walk reading to a wired automatic meter reading system. Under that system, the meters were wired to modules that sent a frequency to a laptop in our truck as we’d drive by to get a reading. The two major issues facing RWD consisted of wires getting pinched or cut by field service staff when they lifted, opened, and closed the lids and of gophers chewing through the wires. Given these problems, we were searching for a wireless AMI system in which all electronics would be contained within the module. We looked at a few different products, but Master Meter’s was the only one we found that was truly wireless. That was a big selling point for us. Municipal Water Leader: The new system directly reports all its measurements to your office, correct? municipalwaterleader.com
PHOTOS COURTESY OF RWD.
Allen Davidson: At RWD, we’re always looking for technology advancements that can allow us to reduce costs and conserve water. The advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) project complements other investments that we’ve made. We’ve tried to make our office paperless. We’ve also started using iPads in the field to increase communication and reduce the time we need to spend going back and forth
Work on RWD's new AMI system.
