Town of Okotoks, Alberta, Exceeds Water Management Targets with Sensus

Canadian utility enhances water sustainability and improves worker
safety with smart metering technology


RALEIGH, N.C.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–#AMI–(Click
to Tweet
) – For the Town
of Okotoks
, sustainability isn’t just a buzzword. It’s a way of
life. Situated just south of Calgary in Alberta, Canada, the town boasts
one of the lowest per capita gross water consumption rates in North
America—50 liters per capita per day lower than the Canadian national
average. That’s why, when it came time to replace its aging water
infrastructure, the town turned to Sensus,
a Xylem brand, to provide the technology.

“Many of our meters were outdated,” said Chris Radford, infrastructure
and operations director, Town of Okotoks. “We needed an upgrade and
opted for a solution that would allow us to detect abnormal water usage
sooner, supporting water conservation efforts in real-time.”

To better manage and monitor its customers’ water consumption rates,
Okotoks worked with EPCOR
Water Services
to deploy the Sensus
Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) solution
. Comprised of Sensus iPERL®
water meters
and the FlexNet®
communication network
, the technology has enabled the town’s staff
to gain a more accurate view of water consumption data for more than
8,400 residential and commercial properties.

“It provides more insight into water consumption trends,” said Radford.
“The real-time data allows us to work with customers over the phone,
pull up their information and address issues around high usage.”

For EPCOR technicians, the AMI solution provides added safety benefits.

“We no longer have technicians risking their safety when entering
customers’ yards to read meters manually. Weather, especially icy
walking conditions, dogs and even hidden obstacles, is always a safety
concern for our meter readers,” said Darren Peel, manager, Okotoks
operations at EPCOR.

Looking ahead, the Town of Okotoks has big plans for the AMI solution,
including launching a portal to help customers take the future of the
town’s water sustainability initiatives into their own hands.

“We’ve always been a pioneer in using leading-edge technology to aid our
sustainability efforts,” said Radford. “We expect that our customer
portal will keep us on the forefront of these efforts while empowering
customers to become smarter consumers.”

About Sensus

Sensus helps a wide range of public service providers—from utilities to
cities to industrial complexes and campuses—do more with their
infrastructure to improve quality of life in their communities. We
enable our customers to reach farther through the application of
technology and data-driven insights that deliver efficiency and
responsiveness. We partner with them to anticipate and respond to
evolving business needs with innovation in sensing and communications
technologies, data analytics and services. Learn more at sensus.com
and follow @SensusGlobal on Facebook,
LinkedIn
and Twitter.

About Xylem

Xylem (XYL) is a leading global water technology company committed to
developing innovative technology solutions to the world’s water
challenges. The Company’s products and services move, treat, analyze,
monitor and return water to the environment in public utility,
industrial, residential and commercial building services, and
agricultural settings. With its October 2016 acquisition of Sensus,
Xylem added smart metering, network technologies and advanced data
analytics to its portfolio of solutions. The Company’s nearly 16,000
employees bring broad applications expertise with a strong focus on
identifying comprehensive, sustainable solutions. Headquartered in Rye
Brook, New York with 2015 revenue of $3.7 billion, Xylem does business
in more than 150 countries through a number of market-leading product
brands.

The name Xylem is derived from classical Greek and is the tissue that
transports water in plants, highlighting the engineering efficiency of
our water-centric business by linking it with the best water
transportation of all—that which occurs in nature. For more information,
please visit www.xyleminc.com.

Contacts

Sensus
Linda Palmer, +1-919-259-5778
[email protected]
or
Mark
Van Hook, +1-919-459-6481
[email protected]