Indianola’s water meter issues need a resolution.
This says Ward 4 Alderman Marvin Elder, who this past Monday night asked that representatives from the Delta software company and Southern Pipe, the city’s meter vendor, appear before the board to see if they could get to the bottom of the city’s frequent issues with bad meter data.
Delta reps were not present, but Michael Murray, with Southern Pipe was at the meeting.
Murray informed the board that there could be many factors as to why some of the water meters are not working.
“We take the information we get from the billing company, and if that information is not uploaded, downloaded or set up correctly, and all the electronic numbers are entered into the billing software correctly, and our meter is sending out radio frequency it collects it and plugs it in reading that number,” said Murray. “If the meter is not sending a signal, it’s under warranty.”
Murry informed the board that some warranty replacements will be available to them soon, and he will assist some of the meter readers and show how to replace them. When the city purchased the meters in 2019, the meters’ warranty began once they left the manufacturer. The meters have a 10-year warranty, and at that point, the warranty structure changes.
Some of the meters that are not being read send out a radio frequency, and there is a glitch somewhere with the billing that could be affecting Harmony (the vendor that handles the transacctions for the city) that shows the meter is not reading, Murray said.
“The last few times I have been here I went out with your meter reader, and we verified in the field how to verify if the meter is or is not sending out a signal,” said Murray.
Master Meter, the company that supplies the meters for the city, did discover that the route file was not being updated during each cycle.
Since the information had not been updated, the system would not accept new meter readings and attempted resolutions proved to be only temporary.
Elder asked if the city’s meter readers had been properly trained, and none of them had been, Murray said.
“The training I’ve recommended that a few times, that the water clerks and whoever does the billing can set up a no-charge online Zoom call meeting,” Murray said.
“At the time we did do an audit to try and figure out what’s going on, (the meter reader) goes out and he reads the meters, he brings his laptop back to the city hall but for some reason there is a disconnect. Some data does not transfer from his laptop to Delta or to Harmony and we are trying to figure out why that is. What stops the data from transferring properly? Because that has nothing to do with training.” said Mayor Ken Featherstone.
Murray did not have an answer for the mayor at that time. He suggested attempting to solve by process of elimination.
Murray recommended a business associate he knows, Jenny Jones, suggesting that she may be able to figure out what the issue is.
The mayor informed Murray that Jones sat down with the water clerks, he had also done a follow-up with her, and she mentioned to him that she was going to try to figure out the problems with the data transfer.
The mayor also asked Jones if she could create a training manual so that, in the future, clerks may have a guide. The city is still waiting for a response from Jones.
Murray told the board he had a Harmony software technician pull all of Indianola’s Electronic ID numbers from a meter file. That information comes from what the billing sends.
Murray said, “There were quite a few accounts that did not have the correct account number. With the accounts not having the correct electronic number the meter will show up as if it’s not reading. If the account is new that could be a reason why the electronic number was not in the account, or it may have never been associated with the account.”
The board asked Murray what the solution could be. He told the board it would take a process of elimination to figure out why things are not connecting.
No board action was taken.
