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Economic analysis for replacing residential meters
Author(s) -
Yee Michael D.
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
journal ‐ american water works association
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.466
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1551-8833
pISSN - 0003-150X
DOI - 10.1002/j.1551-8833.1999.tb08666.x
Subject(s) - revenue , environmental science , metre , sampling (signal processing) , chart , water consumption , environmental engineering , statistics , engineering , mathematics , telecommunications , business , physics , accounting , astronomy , detector
Statistical sampling was used to chart the degradation of water meter accuracy over time and to determine an optimal replacement age. Single‐family residential 0.6‐in. (15‐mm) meters make up about 90 percent of all meters for the Alameda County Water District in Fremont, Calif., and generate about half of all annual revenues from water consumption. Like all mechanical devices, these meters degrade in accuracy over time, resulting in an increasing amount of lost revenue. To increase meter accuracy requires replacing meters at an additional cost. The optimal economic replacement age is when the average cost per year (cumulative lost revenue plus replacement cost divided by meter age) is at a minimum. Statistical sampling was used to profile the degradation of these meters' accuracy over time. The annual lost revenue over time was then calculated. When economic and operational factors were considered, the optimal age at which to replace residential meters in the district was determined to be 15 years.