City of Ferndale Selects Elster's evolution(TM) Smart Metering Solution to Enhance Water Conservation and Customer Service

FERNDALE, Mich. and OCALA, Fla., April 8 /PRNewswire/ -- The City of Ferndale, Michigan and Elster announced today that the City of Ferndale has selected Elster's evolution™ Fixed Network (evoNet™) Advanced Metering Infrastructure system to support the city's water conservation measures.  

The system-wide AMI implementation and meter upgrade also will include the installation of the innovative new Elster EvoQ4 solid state meter.  

"Water conservation has become a critical issue for the entire nation," said Byron Photiades, Ferndale city manager. "Our new Elster evolution system will provide a more complete picture of water consumption, on an hourly basis, which should allow our customers to more efficiently manage their water consumption, and should improve our ability to quickly detect and enable repair of wasteful and expensive leaks in the system."

The evoNet AMI solution will be installed over an 18-month period. The city will replace nearly 10,000 meters on residential, commercial and some industrial accounts, and expects more accurate utility bills for its customer base.  

The fixed network system, consisting of an array of evoGate™ Central Collectors, will be located strategically throughout the customer's water service area.  These central collectors acquire meter readings and relay them on a daily schedule, or on demand, to a customer's office location.

The evoNet AMI system is a fully automated wireless two-way smart metering technology system that allows water utilities to attain on-demand readings, real-time leak detection and tampering or backflow notification.  With the evoNet system, utilities can efficiently implement management tools to reduce costs, improve customer service and begin to monitor interval consumption patterns for water.

Ferndale plans to promote conservation through efficient water usage while protecting its revenue stream through its new EvoQ4 meters, which can measure a substantial range of water flow.

"The City of Ferndale has taken a leadership approach in managing its water resources and launching water conservation measures," said Thomas Gwynn, president of Elster AMCO Water.  "Elster is looking forward to supporting the city as it implements this cutting edge initiative with our innovative evolution Smart Grid solution."

About the City of Ferndale

The City of Ferndale, centrally located in Southeast Michigan is a gateway to Oakland County. It is located between Eight Mile Road and I696 along Woodward Avenue with easy access to all interstates. The revitalized downtown continues to grow and contains a diverse mix of shops, restaurants, and businesses in a newly streetscaped setting. A number of Fortune 500 companies call Ferndale home. Ferndale is known for affordable, classic mid-west housing in cohesive neighborhoods and residents committed to community involvement. There's good reason why Ferndale's slogan is "Good Neighbors." Ferndale's citizenry get involved in the life of their City, and when constructive change is needed, residents work with elected officials and city staff to bring about change. Part of Oakland County's Mainstreet program, hundreds of residents serve voluntarily on city commissions, committees, and other organizations to help make Ferndale a better place to live.

For more information about the City of Ferndale, please visit www.ferndale-mi.com.

About Elster

Elster is one of the world's largest providers of electricity, gas and water meters and related communications, networking and software solutions, which are key components for enabling energy efficiency and conservation.  Its products and solutions are widely used by customers in the manual-read meter and Smart Grid markets.  

Elster has one of the most extensive installed meter bases in the world, with more than 200 million metering devices deployed over the course of the last 10 years.  It sells its products and services in more than 130 countries across electricity, gas, water and multi-utility applications for both residential and commercial and industrial customers.

With a heritage of more than 170 years of providing metering solutions, Elster enjoys a reputation as a leading innovator and has played, and continues to play, an important role in shaping industry standards with respect to performance, reliability, accuracy and functionality.

Elster was acquired by funds advised by CVC Capital Partners in September 2005. In 2008, Elster generated revenues of euro 1.3 billion or $1.9 billion.

For more information about Elster, please visit www.elster.com.

About Elster AMCO Water

Located in Ocala, Florida, Elster AMCO Water is an industry leader in the development and implementation of innovative metering and system solutions and is committed to delivering superior customer service, quality products, solutions and services to the water utility industry.

For more information about Elster, please visit www.elsteramcowater.com.

SOURCE Elster