Opelika Utilities: Creating and Managing Sustainable Water Metering Infrastructure

Opelika Utilities, Alabama, serves a population of 13,000 residents and manages 280 miles of pipe, as well as two water treatment facilities.

With the help of POWER Engineers, they are currently in the process of updating their water meter infrastructure by implementing Advanced Meter Infrastructure (AMI) and Trimble Cityworks AMS. This is being done through the installation of smart meters that automatically provide hourly meter readings. 

This new system will not only allow Opelika Utilities to access real-time water infrastructure data but will also help residents keep track of their water usage. “Our goal is to put the customers’ control over water usage back into their hands,” says Dan Hilyer, general manager of Opelika Utilities.

One of the main reasons for this implementation was to increase the efficiency of their water meter assets through the collection of water infrastructure data. As Dan Hilyer puts it, “It’s about data. We all want good data to help us make better decisions. The ability to get readings from every meter provides a lot of guidance on how to operate our system and helps us provide a better service to our customers.”

Watch the video below to learn more about Opelika Utilities’ implementation including their enterprise roadmap, lessons they have learned so far, and how Trimble Cityworks is providing work and asset management analytics for real-time decision-making, and more.