Clyde, TX. Like many cities across Texas, the City of Clyde is experiencing steady growth in population, business development, and economy. To continue that forward growth trend, the City is moving forward with a $15.4M water infrastructure project to help the City safeguard public utilities, improve customer service, and prepare for future growth with no tax impact.
This forward-thinking project will replace residential water meters with new “smart” water meters and connect them to an Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) system, improving operational efficiencies and allowing customers to access their water usage data in near real-time. Additionally, the project includes plans to double the capacity of the water treatment plant. The project will also replace aging clay sewer lines, refurbish manholes, install LED lighting at city-owned buildings, implement a small solar array at the wastewater treatment plant, construct a larger public works facility, and insource solid waste management.
“Our partnership with Performance Services allows the City of Clyde to modernize every aspect of our infrastructure and operations & maintenance, without passing on project costs to the citizens of Clyde,” said Chris McGuire, City Manager.
With such steady growth, the City recognized the need to act on its aging water service infrastructure. For example, one of the new AMI features will monitor potential water leaks by setting up customer notifications when water usage exceeds certain thresholds. Additionally, the project will provide greater transparency through an online portal with near real-time access to water consumption data. Together, these improvements will meet the City’s current and future water service needs.
The City of Clyde selected Performance Services, a qualified energy services company, to develop the project through an Energy Savings Performance Contract (ESPC), enabled by Texas Local Government Code 302. An energy savings performance contract allows a public entity to pay for efficiency improvements within their existing budgets without raising taxes. Savings are generated from the installation of new, modern, and energy-efficient technology and equipment improvements. Additionally, the construction of the public works facility will occur under a separate, design-build public law contract.
Project improvements include:
- Install 1,600+ smart water meters with connections to an AMI network.
- Double the capacity of the water treatment plant to enable the City to produce two million gallons of water per day. The additional capacity will increase the amount of water the City can sell to neighboring communities while preparing for future growth.
- Refurbish 192 manholes throughout the City.
- Replace 2,200 feet of aged clay sewer lines.
- Install LED lighting at the Police Station, Lake House, Senior Center, Public Works Building, Animal Control, Water Treatment Plant, Wastewater Treatment Plant, Library, Sewer Plant, and the Fire Department. LED lighting uses approximately 46% less energy than existing lighting and will reduce utility expenses.
- Install a small solar array at the wastewater treatment plant with room for future expansion. This array will generate enough power to offset utility use at the plant.
- Design and construct a larger public works facility with maintenance bays large enough to accommodate the City’s truck fleet.
These upgrades will ensure the City of Clyde’s water system is sustainable and will enhance water revenues, provide operational efficiencies, and improve customer service opportunities for residents. These 21st-century infrastructure improvements will generate over $23 million in savings for the City of Clyde throughout the project’s life.
The project will utilize Diehl meters, a global water meter manufacturer that features solid-state ultrasonic meter technology. The new smart water meters will be connected to a secure AMI network that will provide the City with powerful analytics tools to optimize its process. The network will capture meter data, such as the gallons used per hour, reverse-flow indication, and other operating data not typically available from traditional mechanical meters and registers.
Additionally, once the smart meters have been installed and the AMI network is online, customers will have access to view, manage, and track their water consumption in real-time. More information for accessing the customer portal will be provided post-installation.
Project communication will include a postcard mailer to all customer residences and a door tag placed once the meter is installed. The installation of the new meters will commence this year and be completed in 2022.
