WATER METERING MEANS QUALITY OF LIFE IMPROVEMENTS
CORE & MAIN CASE STUDY: Core & Main uses smart metering and CORE+ analytics to help Brandon, Mississippi, get ahead of potential water issues, save water and improve sustainability.
Investing in Infrastructure
Brandon, Mississippi, is a two-time top American small town with a focus on community and hospitality. “What we're trying to build is a quality place to live, work and play,” said Mayor Butch Lee.
As this suburb of Jackson grows, Brandon places a high value on quality of life. That’s prompted investments in infrastructure, such as water, sewers and streets, to accommodate growth and development while working to improve life for those calling Brandon home. Working with Core & Main, the city added smart meter technology and access to real-time information with our smart utility solution, CORE+.
Reliability Gains With Real-Time Information
The city of Brandon wanted to boost transparency and avoid meter reading inaccuracies and billing inconsistencies.
With the old system of meters, Brandon residents were so plagued by billing irregularities that they complained to the city. In one hearing, a resident told the city’s Board of Alderman, “My water bill went from $90 a month to $150 to $250 to $80 to $150.” Another homeowner asked, “Why is my water bill fluctuating $1,500 a month?”
To gain greater control of its infrastructure, the city changed out its meters and added advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) that sends information, including readings, to the software system in the Public Works office.
“Part of being a service entity is being able to provide that service with a level of confidence,” said Public Works Director Charles Smith. “The ability to accurately and consistently meter usage is really an integral part of how we're going to move forward. Core & Main really took that aspect of what we do off of the list of things that we have to worry about.”
“Core & Main's part of our team, just as any other employee. We count on them and I've always appreciated the way they've approached that.”
CHARLES SMITH,
Public Works Director, city of Brandon
By signing on for our CORE+ professional service to provide project management, operational services, data management, and inclusive AMI system management, Brandon gained access to real-time information. “We could have gone back to what we had before, the same type of technology,” said Carly Dearman, the city’s operations coordinator. Yet, “we had to make the best decision we could for the public.”
With CORE+ it only takes pressing a few buttons to read all the city’s new meters. “And we can read them as many times as we need to throughout the month,” she said.
“With CORE+, the city now has the analytics it needs to find problems and get ahead of them,” said Matt D., Core & Main project manager. He added, “It doesn't matter if it's midnight or in the middle of the afternoon, people rely on us to have the water flowing.”
Solving Real-World Problems
Any time you can’t read a meter, or have pressure problems, you can be wasting water and losing revenue. Citizens can be inconvenienced as well. That’s why the city of Brandon welcomed CORE+ and Core & Main’s commitment.
“Core & Main's part of our team, just as any other employee,” Smith said. “We count on them, and I've always appreciated the way they've approached that.”
With the analytical insights into its infrastructure, Brandon can better focus its efforts and target investments. “We continue every year to actively and proactively make water repairs and improve our system so that we are not caught in a situation where the city's ready to grow and the city's infrastructure won't allow it,” Smith said.
STEVE B.,
Senior Manager of Sales,
Core & Main
For Core & Main, the Brandon partnership exemplifies our expertise providing custom solutions. “We offer not just meters, but also, we provide billing solutions, kiosks, customer portals and installation. We can provide software solutions and provide project management,” said Senior Manager of Sales Steve B. “It doesn't have to be a big plus something, it can be a small plus something. What we like to do is go in and listen to the utility and try to understand what they're struggling with, what they need help with, and then try to provide them with a solution to address that issue."
In the city of Brandon, Core & Main’s solution improved accountability. “Solving that problem for the city allowed them the ability to focus their attention on other things that they wanted to do to help the citizens,” said Regional Director Sean B.
Brandon’s Mayor Lee sees the meter modernization initiative as a boon for everyone. He said, “The partnership with Core & Main, the professionalism, the timeliness of getting information, and the personal touch, mean as much to the residents as they do the city of Brandon.”