[CALL TO ORDER]
[00:00:05]
AND, UM, I CALL THIS MEETING TO ORDER.
UH, IT IS, UH, OCTOBER 9TH, 2024.
AND THIS IS THE WATER AND WASTEWATER COMMISSION.
UM, DO WE HAVE ANYBODY, UH, FOR PUBLIC COMMUNICATION SIGNED UP? NO PUBLIC SPEAKERS.
[APPROVAL OF MINUTES]
ON, APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES FROM THE SEPTEMBER 11TH, 2024 REGULAR MEETING OF THE WATER AND WASTEWATER COMMISSION COMMISSIONERS, IF YOU'VE HAD A CHANCE TO REVIEW THAT.IS THERE ANY COMMENTS, UM, FOR, UH, THE MEETING MINUTES FROM LAST MEETING? HEARING NONE, IS THERE A MOTION TO APPROVE? I'LL MOVE TO APPROVE COMMISSIONER PENN APPROVES.
IS THERE A SECOND? I'LL SECOND THAT MOTION.
ALL THOSE IN FAVOR, PLEASE SHOW BY RAISING YOUR HAND.
I GUESS I DIDN'T CALL ROLE AND WHO'S HERE TODAY? I SHOULD HAVE DONE THAT.
ALL RIGHT, LET ME DO THAT RIGHT NOW.
UM, TODAY WE HAVE, UM, COMMISSIONER ARDI AND COMMISSIONER PAD DURRANI, UH, REMOTE AND IN PERSON WE HAVE COMMISSIONER PENN, COMMISSIONER VARRIO, COMMISSIONER MARLO, COMMISSIONER REYES, COMMISSIONER SUE, AND MYSELF.
UM, AND WE ALSO HAVE A NEW COMMISSIONER, AND I WANTED TO GIVE HER A FEW MINUTES TO SAY HELLO.
SO, COMMISSIONER AMANDA MARLO.
UM, AS SHE SAID, I'M THE NEW COMMISSIONER FOR DISTRICT THREE.
I WAS APPOINTED BY COUNCIL MEMBER JOSE VELAZQUEZ.
I WORK FOR THE AUSTIN COMMUNITY LAW CENTER.
WE REPRESENT LOW INCOME AUSTINITES IN EVERY TYPE OF LEGAL PROCEEDING THAT THEY MIGHT HAVE FROM CRIMINAL TO LAND DISPUTES TO PROPERTY DAMAGE.
SO WE'RE REALLY EXCITED TO BE HERE AND PARTICIPATING AS A COMMUNITY STAKEHOLDER.
[DISCUSSION AND ACTION]
OKAY, MOVING DOWN TO THE, UH, ACTION ITEMS. UH, I'M JUST GONNA GO AROUND TO THE RIGHT HERE AND SEE IF THERE'S ANY RECUSALS OR ANY QUESTIONS STARTING WITH COMMISSIONER PENN.I HAVE A RECUSAL ON ITEM SEVEN.
MY COMPANY IS A SUB-CONSULTANT TO THE PRIME ENGINEER ON THIS.
COMMISSIONER VERIO, NO QUESTIONS.
COMMISSIONER SAN, NO QUESTIONS.
NO RECUSALS COMMISSIONER MARLO? NO QUESTIONS.
I WOULD ALSO LIKE TO, OH, SORRY.
COMMISSIONER MORTY, DO YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR RECUSALS? NO QUESTIONS.
RECUSAL COMMISSIONER PGI, ANY QUESTIONS? ANY RECUSALS? NO QUESTIONS? NO.
ALL RIGHT, COMMISSIONERS, I WOULD LIKE TO PULL ITEM EIGHT FOR SOME BRIEF DISCUSSION.
SO FOR CONSENT, WE HAVE ITEMS 2, 3, 4, 5, AND SIX.
ALL THOSE IN FAVOR? SH PLEASE SHOW BY RAISING YOUR HAND.
I HAVE A MOTION FOR, I'LL SECOND THAT MOTION AND A SECOND.
FOR ALL THOSE IN FAVOR, PLEASE SHOW BY RAISING YOUR HAND AND IT IS UNANIMOUS.
[7. Recommend approval of an amendment to the contract for professional engineering services for the 2018 Reservoir Improvements Program with Freese & Nichols, Inc. in the amount of $1,084,217 for a revised total contract amount not to exceed $7,084,217.]
ALL RIGHT.GOING ON TO ITEM NUMBER SEVEN, RECOMMEND APPROVAL OF AN AMENDMENT TO THE CONTRACT FOR PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERING SERVICES FOR THE 2018 RESERVOIR IMPROVEMENT PER IN THE AMOUNT OF 1,000,008 $84,217 FOR REVISED TOTAL CONTRACT AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED OF 7,084,007 $217.
UH, COMMISSIONER PENN NEEDED TO RECUSE HIMSELF.
DO ANY OTHER COMMISSIONERS HAVE QUESTIONS ABOUT THIS ITEM? HEARING NO QUESTIONS.
DO I HAVE A MOTION? MOVE TO, I MAKE A MOTION TO MOVE.
UH, COMMISSIONER MARCELLA CI UH, MAKES A MOTION.
AND COMMISSIONER REGI SECONDS.
PLEASE SHOW BY RAISING YOUR HAND.
AND THAT IS UNANIMOUS, WITH THE EXCEPTION OF COMMISSIONER PENN, WHO IS RECUSED HIMSELF FROM THIS ITEM.
[8. Discuss and approve the calendar year 2025 Water and Wastewater Commission meeting schedule]
ITEM NUMBER EIGHT.UM, COMMISSIONERS, WE HAD, UM, A QUESTION ABOUT POSSIBLY BY COMMISSIONER MORTY ABOUT POSSIBLY MOVING THE TIME OF OUR, UH, 20 24 5, OH MY
[00:05:01]
GOODNESS, SCHEDULE, UH, TO, UH, THE AFTERNOON HOURS.UM, SO WE DID HAVE STAFF TAKE A LOOK AT IT, AND I JUST WANTED TO HAVE SOME OPEN DISCUSSION ABOUT THAT.
WHAT'S IN YOUR PACKET IS, UM, THE, UM, REMIND ME, IS THIS THE SECOND WE THIRD WEDNESDAY? MOSTLY THE SECOND.
IT'S THE SECOND WEDNESDAY OF THE MONTH IN THE EVENING, UH, WITH THE EXCEPTION OF THE FIRST MONTH BECAUSE OF THE HOLIDAYS, UH, GETTING IN THE WAY OF THAT, UM, THIS IS SOMETHING THAT'LL WORK.
UH, IF WE WANTED TO DO A NOON MEETING, WE'D HAVE TO MEET ON THE THIRD WEDNESDAYS.
UH, BUT WE WOULD HAVE THREE MONTHS WHERE THAT WOULDN'T WORK, UM, BECAUSE OF TEXAS WATER, UM, EASTER, PASSOVER HOLIDAYS.
AND, UM, WE'D BE AT, UH, IN DECEMBER, WE'D BE TOO LATE FOR THE CITY COUNCIL MEETING TO GIVE THEM AN, UH, OUR ADVICE.
UM, SO WE COULD MEET, UH, IN THE AFTERNOON ON THE THIRD WEDNESDAYS.
AND WE JUST HAVE TO MOVE THREE OF THOSE MEETINGS TO ANOTHER TIME.
UM, MY ONLY CONCERN WITH DOING THIS, UM, I DO LIKE THE IDEA OF NOT TRYING TO DRIVE HERE DURING RUSH HOUR.
I'M NOT GONNA LIE ABOUT THAT, BUT, UH, THE STAFF CAN BE CALLED AT ANY TIME TO ANY MEETING BY, UH, CITY LEADERSHIP.
AND IF THAT HAPPENS, IT CAN GET A LITTLE CHALLENGING.
UM, BUT I WANTED TO OPEN IT UP FOR DISCUSSION.
AND, AND COMMISSIONER MORTY, I KNOW THAT YOU, YOU REQUESTED US LOOK INTO THIS, SO I JUST WANTED TO HEAR YOUR THOUGHTS AND COMMENTS.
YEAH, I WAS GOING TO SAY, UM, NOT ONLY DO I, UH, BUT I, I HAVEN'T BEEN DRIVING TO THE MEETINGS MYSELF PRIMARILY BECAUSE I DON'T SEE VERY WELL IN THE DARK.
SO HAVING THE MEETINGS AT NIGHT, UM, I WAS NEVER A BIG FAN OF THAT ANYWAYS.
BUT, UH, THE OTHER THING, WE, WE TALKED ABOUT THIS A FEW YEARS AGO, AND, UM, THE COMMISSION AT THAT TIME WANTED TO KEEP THE MEETINGS AT, AT, IN THE EVENING.
UH, I THINK IT WAS MORE, YOU KNOW, PEOPLE DIDN'T WANNA LEAVE THEIR JOBS, THAT SORT OF STUFF.
SO, UM, BUT I, UH, IF IF EVERYBODY'S AGREEABLE TO IT, UH, I THINK IT'D BE BETTER.
BUT, UH, THERE'S ALSO THE QUESTION OF MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC HAVING AN OPPORTUNITY TO COME TO THE MEETINGS AND MAYBE A NEW MEETING MAKES THAT HARDER FOR THEM.
UH, BUT AGAIN, YOU CAN DO ALL THIS STUFF ON ZOOM NOW, I THINK.
SO EVEN IF SOMEBODY HAD A JOB AND THEY REALLY WANTED TO ADDRESS THE COMMISSION, THEY COULD GO ON ZOOM AND DO IT.
I THINK, ANYWAYS, UH, I'D, I'D, I'D LIKE TO SEE THE MEETINGS MOVE, BUT, UH, THEY'VE BEEN AT THIS TIME FOR A LONG TIME, SO, UH, BUT IT'S UP TO EVERYBODY ELSE.
I HAVE A COUPLE OF QUESTIONS IF I CAN.
UM, I DON'T, I, I'M NOT OPPOSED TO MOVING THE MEETING TIMES IF THAT WORKS.
I THINK MY FIRST QUESTION IS, WHY WERE WE LOOKING AT THE THIRD WEDNESDAYS INSTEAD OF THE ALREADY ESTABLISHED SECOND WEDNESDAYS? JUST FOR MY UNDERSTANDING, DO YOU WANNA ANSWER THAT? COMMISSIONER PANDERING, THIS IS HEATHER COOK WITH AUSTIN WATER, AND WE ARE OFFERING THIRD WEDNESDAYS AS AN OPTION SHOULD THE COMMISSIONERS CHOOSE TO WANT TO MEET DURING THE, UM, DAY.
WE HAVE A STANDING, UM, COMMITMENT FROM SOME AUSTIN WATER LEADERS THAT NEED TO ATTEND, UH, DAYTIME MEETINGS ON TUESDAYS THAT WE DIDN'T WANT TO THE SECOND TUESDAYS, SO, I'M SORRY, SECOND WEDNESDAY.
SO SECOND, WEDNESDAYS WILL NOT WORK AT DAYTIME.
THAT'S WHY THE CURRENT STATE IS BEING OFFERED? CORRECT.
AND WHEN WE'RE SAYING DAYTIME HOURS, MY SECOND QUESTION IS, WHAT ARE WE, ARE WE SAYING TWO O'CLOCK, THREE O'CLOCK, FOUR O'CLOCK? WHAT, WHAT IS THAT? GENERALLY IT'S OPEN FOR DISCUSSION AS TO WHEN THAT COULD BE.
UM, WE HAVE MORE FLEXIBILITY NOW THAT WE HAVE THIS BEAUTIFUL AUSTIN WATER MEETING SPACE THAT WE'RE IN TODAY.
UM, SO IT'S A MATTER OF THE WILL OF THE COMMISSION IF YOU DID WANNA LOOK AT A DAYTIME TIME.
SO, CHAIR, UH, I COULD, LIKE, ANYTIME AFTER 3 34, I COULD MAKE IT IF IT'S EARLIER THAN THAT, UM, REGARDLESS OF WHAT WEDNESDAY, I HAVE A LOT OF OTHER, UM, WORK COMMITMENTS THAT I, IT'S GONNA BE REALLY HARD FOR ME TO BLOCK IT OUT.
BUT IF IT'S LIKE 3, 3 30 OR LATER, I CAN COMMIT TO, UM, A DAYTIME AND THAT WOULD WORK FOR COMMISSIONER MORTY'S, UM, DRIVING CONSTRAINTS AS WELL.
AND I CAN MAKE ANY, ANY WEDNESDAY, ANY OF THE WEDNESDAYS WORK, IF IT'S LIKE THREE 30 TO FIVE 30
[00:10:01]
OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT, OR LATER.DO THE REST OF YOU HAVE ANY COMMENT? IF IT WAS IN THE AFTERNOON, WHAT IDEALLY TIME SLOT THAT WOULD BE FOR YOU? I KNOW THAT I DID HEAR FROM COMMISSIONER REYES THAT IT, THAT IF IT WAS ON THE SECOND TUESDAY, WEDNESDAY
UM, I'M A CONSULTANT FOR SOME, SOME AUSTIN WATER PROJECTS.
SO THERE, THERE ARE INTERNAL DESIGN TEAM MEETINGS UP TO A CERTAIN POINT.
AND SO IDEALLY ANYTIME AFTER THREE O'CLOCK ON WEDNESDAYS, I COULD MAKE THAT COMMITMENT.
I, I JUST, UM, AS MUCH AS I DON'T WANT
SO I JUST THINK KEEPING IT AT THIS TIME SEEMS IDEAL.
I KNOW IT'S BEEN LIKE THIS FOR A VERY LONG TIME, SO I THINK A CHANGE HERE WOULD KIND OF REALLY DISRUPT THE FLOW.
SO, UM, YOU KNOW, AS MUCH AS WE, I'D WANT IT EARLIER AND IT WOULD DEFINITELY, UM, BE SOMETHING THAT WOULD BE BENEFICIAL, UH, TO ME.
UM, I, I DON'T KNOW IF IT'D BE BENEFICIAL TO THE PUBLIC COMMISSIONER.
CAN WE READ YOUR NAME? IT'S TOO SMALL WAIT DOWN.
WELL, FOR WHAT IT'S WORTH, MY CLIENTS HAVE ALWAYS BEEN ABLE TO MEET WITH ME VIRTUALLY, AND WE'RE TALKING ABOUT PEOPLE WHO ARE ON FOOD STAMPS.
BUT I WAS WONDERING IF THIS, IF THIS WOULD CREATE A BURDEN FOR THE STAFF TO HAVE PEOPLE SIGN UP IN ADVANCE TO TESTIFY OR HANDLING THAT DURING THE MEETING.
I WOULD SAY NO, WE CAN HANDLE THAT.
UH, THE RULES FOR THE CITY FOR REMOTE TESTIMONY IS THEY HAVE TO SIGN UP BY NOON THE DAY BEFORE.
SO THAT GIVES ME AND OUR OTHER STAFF LIAISONS AMPLE NOTICE TO ARRANGE FOR THEM.
THEY DO PARTICIPATE ONLY AUDIO REMOTELY PER CITY RULES, NOT ON VIDEO.
UM, SO THAT'S HOW THE REMOTE PARTICIPATION WOULD OCCUR.
AND THEY WOULD DEFINITELY HAVE TO NOTIFY ME BY NOON THE DAY BEFORE THE MEETING.
BUT OTHERWISE, REMOTE IS AN OPTION.
ANY OTHER COMMENTS? I DID JUST THE, THE THOUGHT OF HAVING AUSTIN WATER STAFF GET PULLED FOR OTHER COMMITMENTS.
I MEAN, THAT'S A REAL THING THAT HAPPENS ALL THE TIME.
AND, AND IT'S AT A MOMENT'S NOTICE.
AND, AND WE MOST OF THE TIME HAVE AUSTIN WATER STAFF HERE PRESENTING TO US AND, AND, YOU KNOW, SHARING THAT INFORMATION FOR US TO REVIEW.
SO, I MEAN, I THINK THAT'S A CONSIDERATION THAT NEEDS TO BE WEIGHED.
UM, AND I WOULD AGREE WITH THAT.
UM, IT'S BEEN GOOD DISCUSSION.
I, I, I THINK WE HAVE TWO OPTIONS.
ONE IS I CAN, UM, PUT FORWARD TO A VOTE IN CONSIDERATION THE, THE SIX O'CLOCK, UM, MEETING AGENDA THAT, UH, HAS BEEN INCLUDED IN THE PACKET FOR THE EVENING AGENDA.
AND IF THAT DOESN'T PASS, THEN WE CAN BRING IT TO NEXT MONTH'S COMMISSION FOR A POSSIBLE AGENDA, UM, DURING AT THREE 30 OR FOUR O'CLOCK ON THE THIRD WEDNESDAYS.
AND, UM, BRING THAT TO A VOTE.
DOES THAT SOUND AGREEABLE TO EVERYBODY? UH, SUSAN, MAY I SAY ONE MORE THING? ABSOLUTELY.
UH, UH, I WAS GONNA MENTION THAT ON THE WATER FORWARD TASK FORCE, UM, FOR THE FIRST SEVERAL YEARS OF OUR, UH, EXISTENCE, WE MET IN THE EVENING, AND THEN I WANNA SAY ABOUT FIVE YEARS AGO WE CHANGED TO 12 O'CLOCK NOON MEETINGS.
WE HAVE, UH, REGULAR PEOPLE THAT, THAT TESTIFY IN FRONT OF THAT TASK FORCE.
UH, WE HAVE THE SAME ISSUES WITH STAFF.
ALL KINDS OF STAFF PEOPLE ARE INVOLVED.
I CAN'T REMEMBER ONE TIME ANYBODY GOT CALLED AWAY.
NOT TO SAY IT COULDN'T HAPPEN.
SO, UH, AT LEAST WITH THAT PARTICULAR TASK FORCE, UH, A DIFFERENT DIFFERENT TYPE OF CREW, I WOULD, I WOULD AGREE.
UH, THE, THE AFTERNOON MEETING CHANGE WORKED FINE.
ANY OTHER THOUGHTS ABOUT IT HAVING IT AT NOON? ANY OTHER COMMENTS? DO YOU HAVE ANY THOUGHTS ON IT? UM, HUSBAND VOTE ON THE MEMBER.
[00:15:01]
YEAH.LET'S, UM, LET ME HAVE, UM, STAFF DO A LITTLE MORE RESEARCH AT A NOON, UH, MEETING AND SEE WHAT THAT LOOKS LIKE.
AND, UM, WE'LL HAVE A VOTE AND MAYBE WE'LL HAVE TWO SCHEDULES AND WE WILL VOTE ON BOTH OF THEM.
WE JUST NEED TO GIVE THE INFORMATION TO THE CITY CLERK SO THEY CAN POST IT ON THE WEBSITE.
AND THEN JUST FOR THOSE OF YOU, AS A REMINDER, ONCE THE SCHEDULE'S ADOPTED, IT BECOMES YOUR OFFICIAL SCHEDULE FOR THE YEAR.
UM, SO THAT KIND OF SETS THINGS IN STONE, IF YOU WILL, FOR THE WHOLE YEAR.
UM, SO WE JUST NEED TO GET, GET THE SCHEDULE TO THE CLERK BY NOVEMBER.
AND I'LL ALSO NOTE, OF COURSE, THE VICE CHAIR WASN'T ABLE TO MAKE IT TONIGHT.
AND WE HAVE ONE OTHER ABSENT MEMBER TONIGHT, SO THAT WOULD BE A CHANCE FOR THE OTHER TWO MEMBERS TO WEIGH IN.
IT'S FINE TO WAIT AND VOTE NEXT MONTH.
WE JUST HAVE TO HAVE IT APPROVED NEXT MONTH.
SO, UH, WE WILL MOVE, POSTPONE THAT ITEM, UH, TO NEXT MONTH.
[9. Staff briefing on Austin Water’s inventory of lead service lines]
UH, MOVING ON TO ITEM NUMBER NINE, UH, STAFF BRIEFING OF AUSTIN WATERS INVENTORY OF LEAD SERVICE LINES.I'M THE DIVISION MANAGER, PIPELINE ENGINEERING AND OPERATION SUPPORT IN AUSTIN WATER.
AND I'M GIVE YOU AN UPDATE TONIGHT THAT KIND OF GOES ALONG WITH THE, UH, PRESS RELEASE THAT, UH, WE MADE TODAY RE REGARDING, UH, UH, LEAD AND LEAD AND COPPER RULE, UH, RELATED STUFF.
PRETTY EXCITED TO GIVE YOU THIS PRESENTATION.
ACTUALLY, WE CAN GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE.
UM, SO I'M JUST GONNA GO OVER THE, THE HISTORY IN AUSTIN'S SYSTEM, TALK ABOUT THE, THE EPA RULES AND THEN HOW THAT AFFECTS US AND, AND WHAT WE'VE DONE.
UH, AND, UH, GO OVER THE MAIN DETAILS OF THAT.
AND, UH, WHICH INCLUDES, UH, THE INVENTORY, UM, FUNDING THAT'S AVAILABLE FROM THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, AND, UH, SOME SAMPLING AND TESTING, PARTICULARLY AT SCHOOLS AND CHILDCARE FACILITIES.
SO I THINK WE ALL KNOW WHY LEAD MATTERS.
SO, UH, IF ANYBODY HAS A QUESTION ON THAT, I COULD GO THROUGH IT.
BUT, UH, IT'S IMPORTANT TO, UH, GET THE LEAD OUT, NOT HAVE THE, UH, OUR CUSTOMERS EXPOSED TO LEAD AND AUSTIN'S BEEN A LEADER IN, UH, REDUCING OUR CUSTOMERS EXPOSURE TO LEAD OUR 1954 PLUMBING CODE, UH, DISALLOWED THE USE OF LEAD PIPE, UH, ON THE PUBLIC SIDE, AND 1967, UH, UH, AND, AND THROUGH IN THE, UH, PRIVATE SIDE AS WELL.
SO, AS OF 67 IN AUSTIN, UM, LEAD PIPE WAS NOT ALLOWED FOR SERVICE LINES.
UM, AND THERE'S CLEARLY AN EFFORT BY THE UTILITY BACK IN THE 1960S TO FIND THE ONES THAT WERE OUT THERE, UH, AND GET RID OF THEM.
UM, AND ONE OF THE MAIN WAYS TO COMBAT LEAD WHEN YOU DO HAVE IT, UH, PIPES IN THE SYSTEM IS, UH, CORROSION CONTROL TREATMENT.
UH, AND THE WAY WE TREAT OUR WATER, IT'S A SCALE FORMING WATER.
SO EVEN WHEN LEAD'S THERE WE'RE NOT LEACHING IT, UM, OUT OF THE PIPES, YOU KNOW, THAT'S IN CONTRAST TO SOME MAJOR UTILITIES REQUIRED THE USE OF LEAD PIPES UNTIL THE LEAD BAN BY THE EPA IN 1986.
SO, GIVE A LOT OF CREDIT TO MY PREDECESSORS THAT, YOU KNOW, I GREW UP IN AUSTIN, DRINKING CLEAN LEAD FREE WATER.
UM, SO THEN THE A EPA IN 1992 CAME OUT WITH THE LEAD AND COPPER RULE.
AND THAT WAS, UH, MOSTLY ABOUT SAMPLING AND CORROSION CONTROL.
IT WAS MAKING SURE THOSE THAT HAD LEAD SERVICES, MAKING SURE THAT CORROSION CONTROL WAS IN PLACE TO, UH, PREVENT THE LEACHING OF LEAD.
UH, AND THROUGH THAT IT REQUIRED US TO, TO SAMPLE ON A REGULAR BASIS.
UM, AND THERE WERE LEVELS, IF YOU EXCEEDED, YOU HAD TO DO ADDITIONAL THINGS.
WE'VE, WE'VE NEVER COME ANYWHERE NEAR THOSE LEVELS.
UM, ALMOST ALL OF OUR SAMPLES COME BACK AS NON-DETECT.
UM, SO WE'VE DONE VERY WELL THERE.
WE'RE ALL AWARE OF WHAT HAPPENED IN FLINT, MICHIGAN, UM, LAST DECADE IN SOME OTHER CITIES.
SO THERE WAS A RENEWED FOCUS ON LEAD.
UM, AND THAT LED TO THE LEAD AND COPPER RULE AND THE LEAD AND COPPER RULE IMPROVEMENT, UM, WHICH I'LL GO THROUGH IN DETAIL HERE OVER THE NEXT FEW SLIDES.
UM, SO THE LEAD AND COPPER RULE REVISION IS SOMETHING THAT WAS FINALIZED AND ITS EFFECT, ITS, ITS COMPLIANCE DATE IS A WEEK FROM TONIGHT.
UH, AND THE EFFECT OF THAT IS TO, UH, HAVE A INVENTORY OF ALL SERVICES, UM, AND TO HAVE IT PUBLICLY AVAILABLE, UM, AND GIVE NOTICE TO CUSTOMERS WHO DO HAVE LEAD SERVICES OR GALVANIZE REQUIRING REPLACEMENT SERVICES, WHICH I'LL GO INTO DETAIL ON THAT ON ANOTHER SLIDE.
[00:20:01]
THAT RULE ORIGINALLY INCLUDED, UH, UH, A LOT OF REQUIREMENTS RELATED TO SCHOOL AND CHILDCARE FACILITY TESTING, BECAUSE THE YOUNG DEVELOPING NERVOUS SYSTEMS ARE THE MOST SUSCEPTIBLE, UH, TO LEAD, UM, THROUGH THE RULE MAKING PROCESS.SOME OF THAT WAS MOVED BACK AND BECAME PART OF THIS LEAD AND COPPER RULE IMPROVEMENT AND STUFF WAS JUST AOUN ANNOUNCED YESTERDAY.
IT, IT'S BASICALLY WHAT WE WERE ANTICIPATING.
BUT SOME OF THOSE, UH, REQUIREMENTS HAVE BEEN, UH, MOVED OUT.
THIS IS, THIS HAS COME OUT, BUT IT'S WHAT WE WERE ANTICIPATING.
I GET INTO DETAILS ON SOME OF THE NEXT SLIDES.
SO LET ME TALK ABOUT THE SERVICE LINE INVENTORY.
'CAUSE THAT'S THE THING A WEEK FROM TODAY THAT REALLY AFFECTS US.
UM, AND SO WHAT IT REQUIRES IS TO HAVE AN INVENTORY OF ALL PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SIDE SERVICES IN OUR SYSTEM.
AND SO THE, THE PUBLIC RUNS FROM THE MAIN LINE TO THE METER AND THE PRIVATE RUNS FROM THE METER TO THE BUILDING, UH, TO THE HOUSE.
AND THE RULE ALLOWED FOR FOUR CATEGORIES FOR MATERIALS, UH, UH, AND THE INVENTORY.
AND THAT IS LEAD STATUS, UNKNOWN LEAD, NON-LEAD AND GALVANIZED REQUIRING REPLACEMENT.
I'M GONNA MEET THAT, UH, TIMELINE, NO PROBLEM.
UM, AND ALL OF OUR SERVICES ARE IN THE NON-LEAD OR GALVANIZED REQUIRING REPLACEMENT CATEGORY.
THERE WAS NO LEAD, UM, AND NO LEAD STATUS UNKNOWN, AND THAT'S NOT THE CASE FOR EVERY UTILITY.
BUT THAT WAS A FOCUS THAT WE HAD THAT WE DEFINITELY WANTED TO GET TO.
UM, THIS IS JUST, UH, IT'S JUST A PIE CHART, UM,
SO WE'VE GOT 777 OF THESE GALVANIZED REQUIRING REPLACEMENT.
BARELY MAKES A SLIVER ON THE CHART THERE.
AND, AND EVERYTHING ELSE IS IN THE NON-LEAD CATEGORY.
AND GO AHEAD AND GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE.
SO I MENTIONED THAT THE RULE REQUIRES TO HAVE A PUBLICLY AVAILABLE MAP.
AND SO I, I, I LINKED TO IT TODAY, IT'S LIVE.
UH, IT HAS A SPLASH PAGE THERE THAT GIVES A LOT OF REALLY GREAT INFORMATION ABOUT WHAT'S IN THE MAP.
GIVES LINKS TO OUR, OUR LEAD WEBPAGE.
IT GIVES GREAT INFORMATION ABOUT LEAD EXPOSURE AND, AND HOW TO PREVENT IT.
ONCE YOU ACCEPT THAT, THEN YOU GET TO THE MAP THAT YOU SEE ON THE RIGHT.
UH, THE BLUE CHECK MARKS ARE YOUR NON-LEAD, UH, LOCATIONS.
AND THE TN UH, UH, ASTERISKS, THERE ARE THE GALVANIZED REQUIRING REPLACEMENT, UH, LOCATIONS.
YOU CAN ZOOM IN ON THE MAP, YOU CAN SEARCH BY ADDRESS.
YOU CAN GET THE DETAILED INFORMATION ON THAT, UH, SPECIFIC ADDRESS.
SO THAT'S PUBLICLY AVAILABLE RIGHT NOW.
I'VE MENTIONED IT SEVERAL TIMES.
THE GALVANIZED REQUIRING REPLACEMENT.
THE SCIENCE BEHIND THIS IS THAT GALVANIZED PIPE ITSELF IS NOT A RISK FOR EXPOSURE TO LEAD THE GALVANIZED PIPE.
THAT IS WHEREVER WAS DOWNSTREAM OF LEAD THE GALVANIZED COATING COULD HAVE COLLECTED SOME PARTICLES OF THE LEAD.
AND SO THE RULE INDICATES ANYTHING THAT ANY GALVANIZED LINE THAT IS DOWNSTREAM OF LEAD MUST BE CATEGORIZED AS GALVANIZED REQUIRING REPLACEMENT.
UM, AND SO, UH, THE, THE REQUIREMENTS OF THAT AS THE UTILITY MUST NOTIFY THE CUSTOMERS, UH, THAT ARE EITHER LEAD OR GRR FOR US.
'CAUSE WE DON'T HAVE ANY LEAD SERVICES.
UM, WE HAVE TO REPLACE ANY THAT WE OWN.
THE UTILITY HAS TO REPLACE ANY THAT THEY OWN.
UM, AS IT TURNS OUT, BECAUSE OF WHAT I TALKED ABOUT BEING DOWNSTREAM, ANY GALVANIZED LINES ON THE PUBLIC SIDE OF THE METER ARE NOT GALVANIZED REQUIRING REPLACEMENT BECAUSE THEY WERE NEVER DOWNSTREAM OF LEAD, BUT GALVANIZED ON THE PRIVATE SIDE.
UH, MAY BE, UH, MAY HAVE BEEN, THEY'RE NOT NOW, BUT MAY HAVE AT SOME POINT BEEN DOWNSTREAM OF LEAD.
AND SO THAT'S WHY GALVANIZED SERVICES ON THE PRIVATE SIDE, UM, ARE CATEGORIZED AS GRR FOR, UM, UH, FOR US.
AND SO THE RULE SAYS WE GOTTA NOTIFY 'EM, GOTTA REPLACE IF THEY WERE OURS, BUT THEY'RE NOT OURS.
BUT I'LL TALK ABOUT WHAT WE'RE GONNA DO WITH THE PRIVATE ONES IN A MINUTE AND ENCOURAGE CUSTOMERS, UH, TO REPLACE THEIRS.
THAT'S WHAT THE RULE, UH, THE RULE SAYS.
ANYBODY QUESTIONS OR DO I KEEP ROLLING? OKAY.
UM, SO THIS IS OUR PLAN WITH GALVANIZED REQUIRING REPLACEMENT.
WE'VE GOT THE LETTERS READY TO GO OUT.
UM, THEY'RE REQUIRED TO GO OUT WITHIN 30 DAYS OF, UH, UH, POSTING OF THE INVENTORY.
WE'LL HAVE 'EM OUT, UH, WELL AHEAD OF THAT.
UM, AND WE'RE GONNA OFFER TO REPLACE THOSE, UM, FOR THE CUSTOMER OR THROUGH REBATE.
JUST FOR, UH, INFORMATION PURPOSES.
[00:25:01]
EXPECTING THAT TO BE AROUND $5,000 EACH.SO IF THERE WAS A THOUSAND OF THEM, THERE'S ONLY 7 77.
BUT JUST TO GET AN IDEA OF THE, UH, LEVEL OF COMMITMENT THERE, THAT'S ABOUT $5 MILLION IN TOTAL COST TO GET THOSE, UH, GET THOSE REPLACED.
AND, UH, WE WILL CONTINUE TO NOTIFY CUSTOMERS AS LONG AS THEY HAVE A GRR UNTIL IT'S GONE.
UM, THERE'S BEEN A LOT OF A FLURRY OF LEGISLATION BESIDES JUST, UH, THE RULES, THE LEAD AND COPPER RULE AND LEAD REVISION AND IMPROVEMENT.
UH, FEDERAL GOVERNMENT HAS PROVIDED FUNDING IN A NUMBER OF DIFFERENT WAYS.
WE HAVE A COMMITTEE AT AUSTIN WATER, UH, THAT TRACKS THOSE THINGS.
AND WE SUBMIT INTEREST FORMS AND EVERYTHING.
WE HAVE NOT BEEN SELECTED AS OF YET, UH, WITH THE ANNOUNCEMENTS YESTERDAY, THERE WERE ADDITIONAL OPPORTUNITIES THROWN OUT THERE, AND WE WILL BE FOLLOWING UP ON THOSE.
UM, AND BESIDES EVERYTHING ELSE WE'RE TRACKING ANYTHING THAT WE'RE SPENDING IN THESE EFFORTS.
UH, SO THAT FUNDS COME AVAILABLE, UH, LATER, WE'LL, WE'LL HAVE OUR RECEIPTS, UH, TO, UH, TO BE ABLE TO SEEK REIMBURSEMENT NEXT SIGN.
SO THAT'S THE REQUIREMENTS RELATED TO THE LEAD AND COPPER RULE REVISION.
SO THE LEAD AND COPPER RULE IMPROVEMENT, UH, HAS REQUIREMENTS IN IT ABOUT SCHOOL AND CHILDCARE FACILITY SAMPLING.
UM, IT'S NOT UNTIL 2027 THAT THAT'S REALLY GONNA KICK OFF AS A REQUIREMENT.
BUT WE'RE ALREADY DOING THINGS.
WE'VE GOT A LIST OF OUR SCHOOLS AND CHILDCARE FACILITIES.
UM, WE'VE TRACKED THEM EARLY ON IN OUR PROCESS.
UH, WE, WE TOOK A SPECIAL LOOK AT SCHOOLS AND CHILDCARE FACILITIES, MAKE SURE THOSE DIDN'T HAVE LEAD UPFRONT 'CAUSE WE KNEW THOSE WERE MOST, MOST VULNERABLE, MOST IMPORTANT.
AND TCU HAS A VOLUNTARY PROGRAM FOR EDUCATION AND SAMPLING AND, AND REALLY HELPFUL, UH, FOR THESE FACILITIES.
UH, AND, UH, WE HAD SOME STAFF BEEN DOING A GREAT JOB.
UM, THEY WERE DOING OUTREACH TODAY, UH, TO, TO GET THE, GET, UM, MAKE PEOPLE AWARE OF THIS PROGRAM.
AND SO A ISD AND MANOR HAVE ALREADY SIGNED UP WITH THE PROGRAM.
AND, UH, WE'VE GOT 84 CHILDCARE FACILITIES, UM, THAT ARE ALREADY ENROLLED IN THE PROGRAM AS WELL.
AND SO WE'RE WELL ON THE WAY OF BEING IN COMPLIANCE WITH WHAT NEEDS TO START IN 27 AND HAVE IT AHEAD OF TIME.
I THINK A LOT OF THAT'S MY NEXT SLIDE TOO.
UM, AND SO THROUGH THE TCEQ PROGRAM AND, AND, AND WHAT'S REQUIRED BY LEAD COPPER RULES, PROVIDING EDUCATION MATERIAL.
AND THE EPA HAS A GREAT, UH, UH, A GREAT DOCUMENT.
THE THREE TS FOR REDUCING LEAD.
UM, AND SO WE PROVIDE THAT, UH, TO THESE FACILITIES.
UM, THE REQUIREMENT IN THE RULE IS TO, AGAIN, GET THROUGH ALL OF THOSE THAT WE SERVE WITHIN FIVE YEARS, FIVE SAMPLE POINTS AT EACH SCHOOL, AND TWO SAMPLE POINTS AT EACH CHILDCARE FACILITY.
BUT THE TCQ PROGRAM WILL ACTUALLY DO MORE TESTING THAN THAT.
SO IT'S EVEN BEYOND WHAT THE EPA RULE REQUIRES.
AND WE WILL RECEIVE CREDIT FOR, UH, FOR THAT WORK.
SO COME 2027, BE WELL ON OUR WAY TO, TO A LARGE PERCENTAGE DONE, IF NOT DONE, UM, ALL THE WAY AT THAT POINT.
UH, I MENTIONED EARLIER WE'VE GOT A LEAD WEBPAGE THAT HAS, UH, A LOT OF INFORMATION.
UH, WE DON'T HAVE LEAD IN OUR WATER, BUT WE'VE GOT LEAD IN OUR WEBPAGE.
UM, SO THERE'S INFORMATION THERE ABOUT FLUSHING, ABOUT, UM, HOW TO CONTACT US, UM, THAT YOU CAN GET TO THE MAP FROM THE LEADPAGE AND YOU CAN GET TO THE WEBPAGE, UH, FROM THE MAP BACK AND FORTH.
UM, THERE'S A FORM ON THERE FOR, FOR THOSE THAT ARE, HAVE THE GRR SERVICES TO REQUEST, UH, THE, THE REPLACEMENT.
AND THEN WE'LL WORK DIRECTLY WITH THEM ON GETTING THAT DONE.
UM, AND IT ALSO INCLUDES INFORMATION ON THE SCHOOL AND CHILDCARE FACILITY.
CAN YOU GO BACK TO THE PREVIOUS SIDE? I WAS WONDERING IF I HAD ANOTHER ONE.
I JUST WANTED TO MENTION OUR, OUR, A COUPLE OF MORE THINGS ABOUT OUR SAMPLING.
UM, AGAIN, OUR STANDARD SAMPLING, UM, IT'S EVERY THREE YEARS THAT WE HAVE TO DO THAT.
OUR, OUR 2024 SAMPLING GONNA BE IN THE SAME PLACE.
UM, AND SO THAT'S WHERE WE'VE BEEN, UH, UH, HISTORICALLY.
UM, ADDITIONALLY WE PROVIDE FREE OF CHARGE IF A CUSTOMER REQUESTS SAMPLING 'CAUSE THEY HAVE A CONCERN, WHETHER IT BE AN OLD HOUSE, THEY'VE GOT A LONG YOUNG CHILD OR WHATEVER.
UH, LAST YEAR WE HAD 43 PEOPLE REQUEST SAMPLING.
WE SENT ALL 43 OF THEM KITS FOR THAT.
ONLY 33 OF THEM RETURNED THE KITS, BUT WE DID THE, UH, DID THE TESTING ON ALL OF THOSE.
UH, AND WHAT WE DO, THERE'S, THERE'S A FIRST, UH, DRAW ON A SECOND DRAW SAMPLE.
SO THE FIRST DRAW IS THE FIRST WATER TO COME OUTTA THEIR, THEIR
[00:30:01]
FAUCET.AND SO THAT'S INDICATIVE OF YOUR PLUMBING RIGHT THERE, UH, IN THE HOUSE.
SECOND DRAW IS MORE INDICATIVE OF THE WATER OUT IN THE YARD LINE.
AND SO THOSE 33 THAT WE TESTED, UH, ALL OF THE SECOND DRAW CAME BACK.
NON-DETECT TWO OF THE FIRST DRAW, HAD VERY LOW LEVELS OF, OF, UH, UH, DETECTION.
SO INDICATE INDICATIVE OF PREMISE PLUMBING, UM, UH, BEING THE SOURCE, UH, OF THEIR LEAD.
UM, SO AGAIN, WE'RE IN A GOOD PLACE FROM A, FROM A SAMPLING PERSPECTIVE AS WELL.
NOW WE CAN GO TO MY, UH, SUMMARY SLIDE.
UH, SO OUR CUSTOMERS AT ARE REALLY LOW RISK OF EXPOSURE.
UH, 'CAUSE WE LACK LEAD SERVICES IN OUR SYSTEM BECAUSE OF HOW WE TREAT.
UM, AND EVEN THOSE RRS, WE, WE, WE DID THIS PROACTIVELY AS WELL.
ONCE WE HAD THOSE IDENTIFIED, WE WENT OUT AND TOOK A SAMPLING OF THOSE AND DID SAMPLING THERE.
AND THEY CAME BACK NON-DETECT.
UM, SO WE JUST WANTED TO GET A JUMP ON IT.
IT WASN'T REQUIRED, BUT SOMETHING WE WANTED TO, UH, CHECK AND MAKE SURE THAT'S WHAT WE ANTICIPATED, JUST WITH EVERYTHING THAT WE'VE SEEN IN OUR SYSTEM.
WE'RE, WE'RE IN COMPLIANCE WITH THE LEAD AND COPPER RULE REVISION.
AND WE'LL, WE'LL BE THERE WITH LEAD AND COPPER RULE IMPROVEMENT, UM, AS WELL, UH, AHEAD OF SCHEDULE.
THAT WAS VERY INFORMATIVE AND CONGRATULATIONS ON REACHING THE THANK YOU TO THE CITY.
I MEAN, I KNOW IT'S BEEN A LOT OF WORK, UM, AND I KNOW YOU TOOK IT VERY SERIOUSLY AND I KNOW THAT COMMISSIONERS PROBABLY HAVE SEVERAL QUESTIONS.
UM, CAN YOU EXPLAIN BEFORE WE START, JUST BECAUSE COMMISSIONERS MIGHT NOT KNOW THIS MM-HMM.
SO TYPICALLY THE METER IS THE, IS THE POINT, OR WHICH IS AT THE PROPERTY LINE, IS THE POINT WHERE RESPONSIBILITY CHANGES.
SO WE ARE RESPONSIBLE IN THE RIGHT.
THAT'S NOT EVERY UTILITY, BUT THAT, THAT IS, UM, UH, HOW IT IS HERE.
UM, GIVEN THAT, UH, THE GALVANIZED REQUIRING REPLACEMENT, THE GALVANIZED SERVICES ON THE PRIVATE SIDE ARE GALVANIZED REQUIRING REPLACEMENT BECAUSE OURS MAY HAVE BEEN LED AT SOME POINT.
UH, AND JUST IN THE PUBLIC HEALTH INTEREST IS WHERE, UH, WE'RE LOOKING AT HELPING OUT, UH, WITH GETTING THOSE REPLACED.
DID THAT ADDRESS WHAT YOU WERE ASKING? YEAH, I THINK THERE'S GONNA BE A LOT OF QUESTIONS ABOUT THAT THOUGH.
AND I'M GONNA, I'M GONNA GO AHEAD AND, AND, AND START.
AND IT LOOKS LIKE COMMISSIONER MAYOR HAS A QUESTION, SO I'LL START WITH HIM.
CONGRATULATIONS TO AUSTIN WATER ON GETTING THIS PROJECT FLEET.
I'M CURIOUS, HAS THE INVENTORY, I KNOW YOU SAID IN YOUR SLIDE THE INVENTORY HAS BEEN COMPLETED.
HAVE YOU ACTUALLY SUBMITTED IT TO TCQ AND HAS TCQ ACKNOWLEDGED THAT SUBMITTAL? SO WE'VE SUBMITTED, UM, THERE ARE A FEW REMAINING ADDRESSES THAT WERE HAVING, LIKE ERRORS WITH UPLOAD BECAUSE THEY WERE 1 0 3 AND A QUARTER ADDRESS OR WHATEVER, SO THAT IT'S NOT BEEN ACCEPTED, LIKE ABSOLUTELY COMPLETE BECAUSE THERE'S A COUPLE OF THEM TO WORK THROUGH.
UM, SO, UH, I DON'T KNOW THE DETAILS ABOUT FEEDBACK FROM TCEQ TO BE HONEST.
AND ANYWAYS, YOU UNDERSTAND YOU'VE GOTTA GET THAT SUBMITTED BY OCTOBER 16TH, CLOSE OF BUSINESS? YES.
AND GET TAX REVENUE BY THEN? YES.
UM, THE NOTIFICATION FOR THE GALVANIZED, WHAT EXACTLY ARE YOU GOING TO DO WITH THOSE 777, UH, ADDRESSES? HOW ARE YOU GOING TO NOTIFY THOSE CUSTOMERS? SO WE'VE, WE'VE GOT A LETTER PREPARED THAT WE'RE GOING TO MAIL TO THEM, UH, TO GIVE THEM THE INFORMATION.
AND THERE'S, THERE ARE STATUTORY THINGS IN THE LEAD AND COPPER RULE REVISION THAT HAVE TO BE INCLUDED IN THERE.
OBVIOUSLY WE'VE GOT MORE THAN THAT.
UM, BUT LETTING THEM KNOW, UH, WHAT THEY'VE GOT, GIVING THEM CONTACT INFORMATION AT THE UTILITY, UH, AND ASKING 'EM TO REACH OUT SO WE CAN SCHEDULE GETTING IT REPLACED.
UM, SO IS THE LETTER GOING OUT CERTIFIED? IS THERE ANY, DOES, DOES ANYBODY KNOW IF THEY EVEN GET THE LETTER, IF IT'S A RENTER, IF ALL THAT SORT OF THING? I MEAN, HAVE YOU GAMED OUT THOSE PROBLEMS? NO.
WHAT I'M LOOKING INTO THE, THE CROWD, UH, SENDING CERTIFIED, RIGHT.
CRYSTAL PLE PLEASE COME UP TO THE MICROPHONE.
I ALWAYS KNOW WHEN I ASK A GOOD QUESTION WHEN THEY BRING SOMEBODY UP BACK.
SO
I AM WATER REGULATORY COORDINATOR, SO THIS IS MY BREAD AND BUTTER.
UM, THE LETTER HAS SOME REQUIRED LANGUAGE FROM THE EPA.
UM, IT HAS, UH, AS MATT WAS SAYING, A BUNCH OF, HERE'S WHAT WE WANT YOU TO DO ABOUT IT.
UM, AND EVEN IF YOU DO NOTHING, SOME,
[00:35:01]
UM, REQUIREMENTS FOR LIKE FLUSHING, THINGS THAT PEOPLE CAN DO, WE OFFER THE TESTING.SO THAT'S WHAT'S IN THE LETTER.
UH, YOUR QUESTION ABOUT HOW DOES IT GO OUT, UM, TCE Q'S ADVICE AT A RECENT, UH, STAKEHOLDER MEETING IS TO USE REGULAR POSTAL SERVICE.
DOESN'T HAVE TO BE, UM, CERTIFIED, BUT BECAUSE THE POSTAL SERVICE HAS ALREADY A BUILT-IN MECHANISM FOR BOUNCING THINGS BACK, THAT IS, UM, I ACTUALLY HAD THIS CONVERSATION WITH PIO TODAY.
I WANNA MAKE SURE THAT ANYTHING THAT COMES BACK ACTUALLY LANDS ON MY DESK.
UM, THAT BEING SAID, YOU KNOW, 'CAUSE I HAVE THOSE SAME CONCERNS ABOUT, YOU KNOW, TENANTS WHO MAY NOT, I DON'T LOOK AT MY MAIL, I'M GONNA BE HONEST.
UM, SO WE ARE WORKING ALSO WITH CUSTOMER SERVICE TO REDOUBLE THE EFFORTS THROUGH SAY, CUSTOMER PORTAL, UM, AND USING THE MECHANISMS THAT ARE ALREADY IN PLACE THERE.
AND LAST DITCH, IF SOMEBODY'S IN THEIR APARTMENT OR THEIR UNIT OR THEIR HOUSE, UM, ALL OF THIS INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE ON THE WEBSITE AS WELL.
THEY CAN GO, THEY'RE WORRIED ABOUT LEAD, THEY CAN LOOK UP THEIR ADDRESS.
THEY KNOW THEY HAVE A GRR AND IT GIVES THEM, UM, THE INFORMATION RIGHT THERE.
UM, I'M SORRY, I'M GONNA DIG DEEPER.
I'M NOT TOO HAPPY WITH THESE ANSWERS.
UM, SO LET'S ASSUME OF THE 777 THAT GO OUT, UH, A COUPLE HUNDRED, YOU DON'T HEAR ANYTHING FROM SURE.
WHAT IS YOUR NEXT MOVE? DOES ANYBODY GET INTO A CAR AND GO OUT TO THESE HOMES AND SAY, HERE'S A COPY OF THE LETTER, OR WHAT'S THE STORY? OR HOW, HOW DO WE DO IT? THAT IS A VERY GOOD QUESTION.
UM, I AM NOT AGAINST DOOR KNOCKING IF WE HAVE THE RESOURCES TO DO IT.
UM, MY UNDERSTANDING IS THAT THERE IS MULTIPLE OUTLETS ALREADY IN PLACE.
EMAILS THE SAME WAY THEY RECEIVE THEIR BILLS, RIGHT? WE CAN, IF THEY ARE RECEIVING THEIR BILL, THEY CAN ALSO
AM I, AM I UH, UNREASONABLE ASKING THAT? WELL, IT'S CERTAINLY NOT REQUIRED BY THE RULE.
UH, THE RULE CERTAINLY POINTS TO NOTIFYING VIA THE MAIL SYSTEM.
BUT DON'T YOU, AS THE WATER UTILITY, YOU'VE GOTTA GET THESE THINGS OUT OF THERE.
WELL, THE, WE, I MEAN, ISN'T THE, ISN'T THE REQUIREMENT.
YOU GOT 10 YEARS TO GET RID OF THESE THINGS FUNDAMENTALLY, BUT BECAUSE THEY RESIDE ON THE PRIVATE SIDE, THE BUCK STOPS AT THE OWNER.
SO THERE ARE, ARE, THAT'S WHY THERE'S REQUIREMENTS TO REACH OUT FOUR DIFFERENT WAYS, UM, TO THE PROPERTY OWNER OVER THE COURSE OF THIS TIME ASKING THEM TO MAKE THE REPLACEMENT.
WE ARE UNDER NO OBLIGATION TO REPLACE IT FOR THEM, BUT THAT IS THE INCENTIVE WE ARE OFFERING.
YOU WILLING REPLACE IT AND PAY FOR IT.
SO IF I HAD A GALVANIZED REQUIRING REPLACEMENT, IF I HAD A HOME IN CENTRAL AUSTIN, I, I WOULD BE FOOLISH NOT TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF A HUNDRED PERCENT FREE SERVICE REPLACEMENT WITH THIS POSSIBLY DANGEROUS WATER SERVICE IN MY FRONT YARD.
BUT I CAN'T FORCE YOU TO NO, I GET, I GET THE, YOU CAN'T FORCE, BUT THE FACT IS YOU'RE GONNA PAY THE BILL.
AND I, I'M SORRY TO BE SO PESKY.
NO, BUT I, I'VE BEEN SORT OF A LITTLE BIT OF AN INTERESTED PARTY ON THIS.
SOME OF YOU MIGHT REMEMBER I WROTE SE SEVERAL YEARS AGO, UH, AN, UH, AN EDITORIAL IN THE AUSTIN AMERICAN STATESMAN ABOUT MY INTEREST IN GETTING THESE THINGS OUT OF HERE.
AND I AM REALLY GLAD THAT WE'RE GETTING, NOW I WANNA JUST TALK ONE MORE THING, SORRY TO TAKE UP ALL THE TIME.
UM, THE FUNDING, UM, THE STATE AND THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT IS PROVIDING 51% GRANT MONEY AND OTHER LOW AND SUBSIDIZED LOANS FOR VARIOUS ACTIVITIES LIKE DOING THE INVENTORY, REPLACING THE LINES.
AND SO FAR YOUR APPLICATIONS HAVE NOT MET WITH SUCCESS.
BUT I PRESUME, AND I ASKED THIS QUESTION TO THE WATER DIRECTOR, THAT WE WILL BE A RELENTLESS GROUP ON THIS TO GET THIS MONEY BECAUSE WE ARE TALKING ABOUT MILLIONS OF DOLLARS THAT WOULD BE RECOVERED THROUGH GRANTS.
WOULD I BE SAFE IN SAYING THAT? DIRECTOR ROLSON, WE, IN OTHER WORDS, I WANT YOU TO GIVE UP, THEY TURNED THIS DOWN AND WE'RE NOT GONNA DO IT.
WE, WE TURN IN OUR APPLICATIONS, OUR PROJECT INFORMATION FORMS, UH, FOR, UH, TWDB FUNDING ON A VARIETY OF, UH, OPPORTUNITIES EVERY YEAR.
AND WE WILL CONTINUE TO DO THAT, INCLUDING THIS ONE.
[00:40:01]
FOR ANSWERING MY QUESTIONS.AGAIN, CONGRATULATIONS TO THE STAFF.
I REALIZE YOU DON'T HAVE IT COMPLETELY SUBMITTED, BUT YOU'RE CLOSE.
THANK YOU, COMMISSIONER COMMISSIONERS.
DOES ANYBODY ELSE HAVE ANY QUESTIONS? I HAVE, I HAVE ONE, MATT, TO CLARIFY, IF YOU NOTIFY SOMEONE THAT THEY HAVE THE GALVANIZED, UM, AND THEY OPT TO HAVE IT REPLACED BY YOU, DO YOU CHARGE 'EM ANY KIND OF A FEE? NO.
THAT'S NOT SO YOU'RE COMPING IT IF THEY DO THAT AND IT, OH, I WILL SAY THAT WE ARE STILL WORKING THROUGH THE, UM, EXACTLY WHAT THAT PROGRAM IS GONNA LOOK LIKE.
SO, BUT THE INTENT IS TO GET IN THERE AND REPLACE THE LINE FOR THEM? YEAH.
'CAUSE, UH, I CAN'T ENVISION THAT SOME COMMISSIONERS MAY BE GETTING CALLS IF PEOPLE GET LETTERS AND THEY'RE CONFUSED, THEY SOMETIMES WILL TEND TO REACH OUT TO US.
SO I JUST WANNA MAKE SURE WE HAVE THE TOOLS, WE HAVE TO ANSWER THE QUESTIONS CORRECTLY WHEN THAT COMES.
COMMISSIONER
UM, WHEN YOU GO OUT TO, OR THE INTENT FOR REPLACEMENT AND I, I'M ALREADY LIKE FORESEEING QUESTIONS HERE, LIKE, WELL, WHAT ARE THEY GONNA REPLACE? ARE THEY GONNA RIP UP MY WALLS? ARE THEY GONNA TEAR UP MY, UM, YOU KNOW, FRONT LAWN? LIKE WHAT? I DON'T KNOW.
IDEALLY, WHAT WOULD IT LOOK LIKE? SO IT IS JUST THE SERVICE IN THE YARD, SO IT'S NOT, NOT GOING INTO THE, UH, INTO THE HOUSE.
UH, SO IT'S BASICALLY GONNA BE GOING THROUGH THE YARD, SO THAT'S, YEAH.
AND THE WATER DEPARTMENT'S NOT GONNA, YOU KNOW, LANDSCAPE THEIR STUFF BACK AFTERWARDS.
UM, WE'LL, WE'LL PUT, WE'LL PUT BACK SOD, YOU KNOW, WE'LL, WE'LL, WE'LL PUT IT BACK LIKE THAT.
BUT THAT'S, LIKE SHAY SAID, WE'VE GOT SOME OF THE DETAILS TO, TO WORK OUT.
THERE WAS A LOT OF TALK ABOUT CREPE MYRTLES AND THINGS LIKE THAT.
I, UH, IF THERE'S MORE QUESTIONS OR MORE QUESTIONS, BUT I, I WANNA SHOUT OUT TO OUR PREDECESSORS THAT PUT US IN THIS POSITION THAT WE'RE NOT WHERE SOME OTHER CITIES ARE THAT I GOT TO GROW UP IN AUSTIN, DRINKING THE CLEAN WATER, UH, REALLY, YOU KNOW, PUT US IN A PLACE FOR SUCCESS.
SO, UH, TEARS TO THE PEOPLE THAT CAME BEFORE US.
UM, ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? COMMISSIONERS? I WOULD LIKE TO JUST TAKE A MOMENT OF PRIVILEGE TO THANK MATT CULLEN AND CRYSTAL AND DELL AND GARY SHELVIN FOR THEIR INCREDIBLE WORK AND MANY OTHER PEOPLE.
BUT THESE ARE THE THREE THAT LED THE CHARGE THROUGH THIS WHOLE EFFORT, AND I APPRECIATE YOUR LEADERSHIP.
[10. Staff briefing and briefing by Black and Veatch on water distribution system water loss report]
TO THE NEXT ITEM ON THE AGENDA.UH, A STAFF B, UM, I ITEM NUMBER 10, A STAFF BRIEFING AND BRIEFING BY BLACK AND VEATCH ON THE WATER DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM.
ARE WE STARTING WITH MATT? ARE WE STARTING WITH MATT? WHERE DO WE START? KINDA START WITH ME.
SORRY, DO I HAVE TO INTRODUCE AGAIN? MATT CULLEN, AUSTIN WATER, UH, DIVISION MANAGER, PIPELINE ENGINEERING AND OPERATIONS SUPPORT.
I'M JUST GONNA KICK OFF FIRST, UH, ANDREW CHASTAIN, HALLE WITH BLACK AND VEATCH IS HERE TO, UH, GIVE A PRESENTATION ON THEIR FINDINGS, UH, IN REVIEWING OUR WATER LOSS PROGRAMS. SO I'LL, I'LL LET ANDREW DO THAT, AND THEN I'LL FOLLOW UP WITH OUR IMPLEMENTATION PLAN.
GOOD EVENING COMMISSIONERS, UH, STAFF MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC.
THANKS ONCE AGAIN, ANDREW CHASTAIN HOWLEY WITH BLACK AND VEATCH.
SO YEAH, I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO, UH, TO GOING THROUGH THE PROGRAM WITH YOU.
UM, SOME OF THE THINGS WE'VE SEEN, SOME OF THE THINGS WE'RE RECOMMENDING, UH, VERY HAPPY TO BE HERE.
UH, JUST A TINY BIT OF INFORMATION, YOU KNOW, UM, THERE'S AN AUDIT WITHIN HERE.
THERE'S SOME OTHER THINGS WHERE WE'VE GOT RECOMMENDATIONS ON, UM, THE THREE MAJOR AREAS OF, UH, NON-REVENUE, WATER, TWO OF WHICH ARE WATER LOSS.
BUT AUSTIN HAS BEEN, AUSTIN WATER HAS BEEN ACTIVE, UM, IN, UM, IN, IN AUDITING AND WATER LOSS CONTROL FOR, WELL, FOR WELL OVER A DECADE NOW.
I WAS FORTUNATE ENOUGH TO GET TO, UM, BE INVOLVED IN THE TEXAS WATER DEVELOPMENT BOARD, UH, DETAILS AND AUDITING BACK IN 2005.
UM, THAT'S WHEN ALL THIS BEGAN.
AND SO, YOU KNOW, UH, WE WERE BROUGHT IN.
IF WE, IF YOU DON'T MIND GOING TO THE FIRST SLIDE, EMILY, THAT'D BE WONDERFUL.
I'LL TRY NOT TO KEEP YOU HERE ALL NIGHT AS WELL.
PLEASE KEEP ME IN IN CHECK THAT WAY.
BUT YEAH, SO WE'VE GOT THREE THINGS ON THIS FIRST ONE, UM, AND THEN WE'LL GET TO WHERE I WANT TO RECONNECT ON, UH, ON THE AUDIT SIDE OF THINGS.
SO YEAH, OBVIOUSLY THE FIRST, THE LEFT, UH, SIDE OF THE, THE SLIDE THERE IS THE, UM, THE CHAPTERS AND VERSE FROM THE, FROM THE REPORT AS WELL.
[00:45:01]
BOTTOM RIGHT IS THE VERY SIMPLIFIED OVERALL WATER AUDIT STRUCTURE THAT I WAS SORT OF REFERENCING THE DEVELOPMENT BOARD AND TOOK ON, UM, IT WAS 1999 THAT IT WAS ORIGINALLY IN THIS STRUCTURE, BUT THE DEVELOPMENT BOARD TOOK IT ON AND, AND, AND, UH, TEXAS UTILITIES STARTED REFERENCING IT.UM, UH, THEIR WATER LOSS BACK IN 2005.
ANALYSIS WAS STARTED IN 2007, BUT YEAH, IT'S FROM YOUR PRODUCTION METERS OVER TO HOW YOU BILL AND METER AND, UH, AND THE DIFFERENT LOSSES OF, UH, OF WATER AS WELL.
AND THEN, YOU KNOW, WE'LL FOCUS ON THE, THE KPIS 'CAUSE THAT'S REALLY WHY WE'RE HERE.
UM, THE NEXT SLIDE, I'LL SHOW YOU WHY I'M HERE.
UM, BUT YEAH, SO WE'VE GOT A 2022 AUDIT.
WE WERE LOOKING AT THE AUDIT DATA FROM 2022.
UM, AND SO THOSE ARE THE KPIS.
THERE'S TWO UNREAL LOSS, WHICH WE'LL CONNECT, UM, THE DOTS ON AS WE GO THROUGH ONE ON APPARENT LOSS.
UM, AND THEN THERE'S A DATA VALIDITY, SO I'LL START FROM THAT ONE UP.
UH, SO DATA VALIDITY, EV THERE'S ABOUT 20 DATA SETS THAT GO INTO THE AUDIT.
UH, AND THEY ARE ALL HAVE LEVELS OF ACCURACY, LEVELS OF VALIDATION FROM WE'RE GUESSING THROUGH TO.
WE MEET IT, WE MONITOR, WE VALIDATE, UH, ALL THE WAY THROUGH THOSE, UH, PUZZLE.
AND THAT'S WHAT THAT SCORE IS OUT OF A HUNDRED.
UH, SO, UH, IT'S, IT'S MORE THAN A REASONABLE SCORE AT THE MOMENT, 77 IN COMPARISON TO YOUR PEERS.
BUT WE'RE OBVIOUSLY TRYING TO MOVE WELL, UM, APPARENT LOSS GOING UP.
SO THAT IS METER INACCURACIES, WHAT THEY CALL SYSTEMATIC DATA HANDLING ERRORS.
SO ERRORS BETWEEN WHEN THE METER IS READ TO THE CUSTOMER RECEIVING THEIR BILL, UM, AND UNAUTHORIZED CONSUMPTION, OR IN OTHER WORDS, THEFT OF SERVICE.
THAT'S THE APPARENT LOSS PIECE, AND YOU CAN CALCULATE THOSE.
THERE ARE ESTIMATES AND WE, THERE'S RECOMMENDATIONS, UM, THROUGHOUT THIS THAT ARE TRYING TO IMPROVE THOSE, UM, ANALYSES.
AND THERE'S TWO COM TWO WAYS THAT WE'VE, UH, THAT AUSTIN WATER'S MANAGED IT AND WE'VE OBVIOUSLY, UM, DEVELOPED THE KPIS AS WELL.
UH, REAL LOSS IN GALLONS PER CONNECTION PER DAY IS PROBABLY ONE OF THE EASIER ONES TO, TO UNDERSTAND HOW MANY GALLONS.
AND IT'S NOT SPECIFICALLY THAT IT'S LOST AT THE SERVICE LINE.
WE WERE JUST TALKING ABOUT THE LEAD SERVICE LINES.
IT'S ANYWHERE BETWEEN WHERE THEY, UH, YOU KNOW, IT COMES INTO THE SYSTEM FROM THE PRODUCTION, UH, FROM THE THREE TREATMENT PLANTS AND OUT, UM, TO THE, TO THE CUSTOMER METERS AS WELL.
SO, UM, AND WE'RE LOOKING AT WHERE THEY ARE AND WHERE WE'RE TRYING TO GET THE UTILITY, UH, DOWN THE TRACK.
SO LET'S GO TO THE NEXT ONE, PLEASE, EMILY.
AND SO THIS IS WHY WE'RE HERE.
SO THERE'S SOME, SO THE FOCUSING ON THE RED LINE, UM, YOU KNOW, THERE'S, THERE'S WATER SUPPLIED INFORMATION YOU BUILD AND METERED INFORMATION HERE, SOME OTHER AUTHORIZED USES AS WELL.
BUT THE REASON WE'RE HERE IS BECAUSE THAT'S 2010 THROUGH 2022.
AND THOSE ARE THE THREE COMPONENTS OF, UH, OF NON-REVENUE WATER IN THIS CASE.
SO THE, THE BLUE AND THE, THE LIGHT BLUE AT THE BOTTOM IS THE APPARENT LOSS THAT I WAS TALKING ABOUT THERE THREE COMPONENTS, MAINLY.
IN MOST CASES, THE PREDOMINANTLY METER ACCURACY OR METER INACCURACY.
THE GRAY IS THE REAL LOSS, WHICH IS THE REAL MOLECULES OF WATER THAT ARE, UH, LEAKING OUTTA THE PIPES.
THERE'S A SMALL AMOUNT OF STORAGE, UH, LOSSES AS WELL, STORAGE SEEPAGE.
BUT IN IT'S, UH, UH, LET'S JUST FOCUS ON IT BEING LEAKAGE IN THIS, IN, IN THIS CIRCUMSTANCE.
'CAUSE THAT'S WHAT PREDOMINANTLY IT IS.
AND THEN YOU'VE GOT THE UNBUILT AUTHORIZED COMPONENTS AS WELL, WHICH ADDS UP TO THE FULL SCALE OF NON-REVENUE WATER.
BUT IT'S BEEN CLIMBING, YOU KNOW, UM, AS I'LL SHOW YOU IN THE NEXT COUPLE OF SLIDES, YOU KNOW, UH, THE UTILITY HAS BEEN DOING ACTIVE AND PROACTIVE WORK, UM, IN THE, IN THE TIME PERIOD IN THAT TIME PERIOD.
BUT, UM, YOU KNOW, THEY, UM, UH, WERE INVOLVED HERE BECAUSE IT WAS CONTINUING TO, UH, ON THE INCLINE AND WE'RE TRYING TO ANALYZE EVERYTHING, GO THROUGH THE PROCEDURES, GO THROUGH SOME OF THE, THE POSSIBILITIES AND IMPROVEMENTS AND EFFICIENCIES THAT COULD BE MADE WITHIN THE SYSTEM.
AND THEN ANOTHER COMPONENT TO THIS.
SO, UH, AND THIS IS ACTUALLY CALLED A COMPONENT ANALYSIS.
SO THERE'S THREE METHODS OF, UH, ANALYSIS OF, OF WATER LOSS.
YEAH, IT'S, THAT'S A, A LITTLE BIT BASIC, BUT, SO WE'VE TALKED ABOUT THE AUDITING.
SO THAT'S SORT OF A TOP DOWN ANALYSIS.
YOU KNOW, HOW MUCH WATER DO YOU PRODUCE, HOW MUCH DO YOU SELL, HOW MUCH DO WE THINK IS A METER IN INACCURACY? AND THEN IT'S ALL, THAT'S, AND A FEW OTHER THINGS AS WELL.
AND THAT BRINGS THOSE NUMBERS THAT I WAS SHOWING ON THE PREVIOUS GRAPH.
THIS ONE IS DOING ANALYSIS OF THE MAIN BRAKES, THE SERVICE LINE LEAKS, THE HYDRANT LEAKS, THE METER LEAKS AND BRAKES, UM, THAT, UH, UH, HAVE BEEN RECORDED BOTH, UM, REACTIVELY
[00:50:01]
AND PROACTIVELY IN THE SYSTEM.UH, AND SO THEN YOU CAN USE THAT AS A, UH, AN ANALYSIS, A COMPONENT ANALYSIS TO ALSO CALCULATE THE REAL LOSS, UH, COMPONENTS OF THIS.
SO THIS, WE'RE JUST TALKING ABOUT THE REAL LOSS, NOT THE APPARENT LOSS, NOT THE OTHER NON-REVENUE WATER COMPONENTS.
AND WE, WE BREAK IT OUT, AND THERE'S ONE MORE WHERE WE GO, WE'LL GET INTO A LITTLE BIT LATER WHERE YOU CAN ACTUALLY ACTIVELY MONITOR, UM, AND MANAGE THE SYSTEM.
BUT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT THE COMPONENT ANALYSIS HERE, AND IT'S ORANGE IS THE AUSTIN WATER, UH, DATA.
UH, ON THE LEFT IS THE MAIN'S FAILURE FREQUENCY.
AND IF YOU LOOK AT THE FAR RIGHT BLUE BAR, THAT'S AN OPTIMIZED SYSTEM.
THIS IS DATA FROM UTILITIES IN NORTH AMERICA.
ON THE OTHER, IT'S SERVICE, CONNECTION, FAILURE, FREQUENCY THAT'S A LITTLE BIT HIGHER THAN THE, UM, UH, THAN THE OPTIMIZED SYSTEMS. SO THERE'S A COUPLE OF THINGS HAPPENING HERE.
YOU KNOW, AS, AS MATT WAS MENTIONING EARLIER, YOU KNOW, YOU'VE GOT THE LEAD SERVICE LINE ITEMS, YOU'VE ALSO GOT SOME POLYBUTYLENE, UH, PBT, UH, UH, SERVICE LINES AS WELL, WHICH HAVE BEEN PROBLEMATIC OVER TIME.
UH, SO IT'S NOT UNEXPECTED THAT THE SERVICE LINES ARE A LITTLE BIT HIGH IN TERMS OF THEIR FAILURE FREQUENCY, YOU KNOW, THE MAIN LINES, UH, WE'LL GET INTO THE PROACTIVE SIDE OF THINGS IN A SECOND, BUT, UM, BUT YEAH, THERE'S, THERE'S A COUPLE OF DATA COMPONENTS TO THIS, BUT YEAH, WE WANT TO VALIDATE THOSE NUMBERS TO MAKE SURE THAT THEY'RE AS ACCURATE AS THEY CAN POSSIBLY BE.
BUT OBVIOUSLY THAT LOOKS GOOD WITHIN THE COMPONENT ANALYSIS AS IT STANDS TODAY.
SO I'LL JUST CONNECT TO A COUPLE OF THINGS THAT THE UTILITY'S DOING.
SO ONGOING EFFORTS AND, UH, UH, THE UTILITY HAS HAD AN, A PROACTIVE LEAK DETECTION, UH, SURVEYING, PROACTIVE LEAK DETECTION, SURVEYING DONE BY A THIRD PARTY CONTRACTOR FOR OVER A DECADE.
SO ON THE LEFT, THE, THE LEFT, UH, PHOTOGRAPH IS, UH, ONE OF YOUR CONTRACTORS ON THE RIGHT, IT'S ONE OF THE, UM, THE AUSTIN WATER STAFF.
AND SO YOU ARE, UH, YOU'VE GOT TWO GROUPS DOING LEAK DETECTION.
UH, AND SO THERE'S THOSE ONGOING EFFORTS.
AND THIS IS TWO, UH, THERE'S FOUR COMPONENTS ON THAT, ON THE GRAPH ON THE LEFT.
AND THIS IS FOCUSED ON THE ACTIVE LEAKAGE, UH, CONTROL, UH, PART OF THE PERSONAL.
NOW I'LL GET INTO SOME OF THE NUANCES OF THIS AND, UH, WE'VE GOT ANOTHER SLIDE BEFORE WE FINISH.
UH, BUT IN TERMS OF INTERACTION, COLLABORATION, UM, STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES, THE EQUIPMENTS, UH, MORE THAN REASONABLE, BUT THERE'S CERTAINLY A LOT OF IMPROVEMENTS THAT CAN BE DONE IN, UH, IN THAT AS WELL.
BUT YOU ARE THERE, THERE'S NOT MANY UTILITIES EVEN OF YOUR SIZE THAT USE BOTH IN, UH, EXTERNAL CONTRACTORS EVEN TODAY.
AND, UM, INTERNAL STAFF AS WELL.
SO YEAH, THAT'S ANOTHER PIECE OF THE PUZZLE.
AND THEN WE'LL MOVE ON TO THE, THE METERING SIDE OF THINGS.
SO THAT'S CONNECTED TO REAL LOSS AND LEAKAGE.
UM, AND THE, THE NEXT SLIDE IS ABOUT THE METER, UH, AND, AND METER ACCURACY WORK.
AND IT SEEMS TO HAVE, THERE WE GO.
SO THE MY A TX, UH, SO YOU'VE DONE A COUPLE OF METER TESTING STUDIES OVER TIME.
I BELIEVE THE FIRST ONE WAS 2013, THE SECOND ONES IS 20 18 20 19, WHERE YOU DID A LARGE, UH, A LARGE NUMBER OF, OF METERS WERE TESTED.
WE'RE NOT TALKING ABOUT 200,000 METERS TESTED HERE, A FEW THOUSAND METERS THAT WERE TESTED.
AND YOU DO A STATISTICAL ANALYSIS OF THAT, AND THEN YOU CAN EXTRAPOLATE THAT TO THE REST OF THE, THE POPULATION OF METERS, OF, OF THE DIFFERENT SIZES.
AND THAT, UM, GUIDED BOTH BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT YOUR APPARENT LOSSES ARE, WHAT THE METER INACCURACIES ARE, UM, BUT IT ALSO GUIDED, UH, IN, IN MANY WAYS THE, THE REPLACEMENT OF THOSE METERS AND THE, YOU KNOW, IN, IN CONNECTION WITH YOUR ADVANCED METERING INFRASTRUCTURE SYSTEM ALSO.
SO THOSE THINGS SORT OF CAME TOGETHER.
YOU'RE REPLACING THE, UH, A LOT OF THE SMALL METERS, SOME OF THE LARGE ONES, BUT ALMOST ALL OF THE SMALL METERS, UM, UH, AS PART OF THIS PROGRAM.
AND THAT'S ONGOING SOON TO FINISH.
SO THAT'S, YOU KNOW, THAT'S ALREADY BEING LOOKED AT.
UM, YOU KNOW, I WAS MENTIONING, I'LL JUST CONNECT BACK, WE WERE LOOKING AT THE 2022 AUDIT.
THIS, A LOT OF THIS HAS HAPPENED SINCE THAT 2022 AUDIT TERM, UH, OCCURRED.
SO WE'RE HOPEFUL THAT THAT'S GOING TO BE A, A POSITIVE ON THE APPARENT LOSS SIDE OF THINGS GOING FORWARD.
BUT LET'S CONNECT INTO A LITTLE BIT MORE OF THE DATA.
SO I'M GONNA SHOW YOU THREE, UM, THREE ITEMS, UM, JUST TO, YOU KNOW, WE COULD, WE COULD TALK ALL NIGHT, AND I'VE GOTTA BE CAREFUL.
I'VE PROBABLY, I, I PROMISE I WON'T.
UH, LIMITATIONS, UM, UH, OF PRODUCTION PIPING.
SO THIS IS HOW MUCH WATER COMES INTO THE SYSTEM.
SO THE PRODUCTION METERS, YOU KNOW, YOU'VE GOT THE THREE WATER TREATMENT PLANTS, A NUMBER OF METERS, AND THERE ARE, UH, WE WENT ROUND, YOU'VE HAD A COUPLE OF STUDIES DONE, WENT ROUND TO EACH AND EVERY, UH, METER ON THE SITES.
UH, SO THIS IS THE WATER MEASURING
[00:55:01]
THE WATER THAT'S COMING INTO THE DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM.AND SAM, LET'S JUST FLIP THROUGH THIS ONE AND THEN LET'S GO TO THE NEXT ONE STRAIGHT AWAY, IF YOU DON'T MIND.
SO THERE'S LIMITATIONS IN A NUMBER OF THINGS.
THE PRODUCTION PIPING HAS A, UH, CAUSES AN ACCURACY ISSUE WITH THESE LARGE, LARGE METERS.
UM, THE CONFIGURATIONS, THE CALIBRATION OF THOSE METERS, THE, THESE ARE POSSIBILITIES FOR, YOU KNOW, WELL, AS I'VE PUT IN THE SECOND BULLET, POTENTIAL SOURCES OF ERROR, YOU KNOW, THE HARDWARE, THE METER CALIBRATION, THE ELECTRONICS, THE WAY THOSE ELECTRONIC SIGNALS ARE SENT TO, UM, THE, THE SYSTEMS THAT MANAGE AND MONITOR AND RECORD THAT DA, THOSE DATA SETS.
THERE WAS A THIRD PARTY ANALYSIS DONE IN 2021, UM, THAT WAS, UM, THAT WAS GOOD DATA, BUT THEY COULDN'T GET, UM, IT WASN'T PERFECT.
UM, AND THEY COULDN'T GET TO, THEY ONLY COULD GET TO ABOUT 50% OF THE METERS, YEAH, WHEN THEY WERE LOOKING AT THE PROPER, UM, VALIDATION OF THOSE METERS, THE PROPER CALIBRATION, THE SECONDARY TESTING OF THOSE METERS AS WELL.
UM, BUT YEAH, WE'RE RECOMMENDING AS PART OF THIS, YOU KNOW, MORE ACTIVE SECONDARY TESTING OF THOSE, YOU'LL MORE THAN LIKELY NEED TO REPLACE SOME, THERE'LL BE SOME REFURBISHMENT OF SOME OF THOSE METERS AS WELL.
'CAUSE THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT PIECE OF THE PUZZLE IN MANY WAYS.
UH, IT'S, IT'S NOT GAINING YOU REVENUE, BUT IF YOU DON'T GET THIS RIGHT, THEN ALL THE OTHER DATA SETS CAN BE INCORRECT.
GOING DOWN THE TRACK, YOU'RE NOT GONNA GET IT PERFECT.
NOTHING IS GONNA BE A HUNDRED 0.0%, BUT YOU WANT TO HAVE ALL YOUR PROCEDURES AND, UH, EVERYTHING IN PLACE SO YOU CAN UNDERSTAND AND GET IT AS ACCURATE AS POSSIBLE IN THIS SYSTEM.
NUMBER TWO, UM, THE SECOND KEY FINDING CONNECTS TO THE, UM, TO THE REAL LOSS, THE PROACTIVE, UH, LEAK DETECTION AND OVERSIGHT.
AND, YEAH, I'VE JUST GOT A SINGLE SLIDE HERE.
SO, UM, WHEN WE, WE WENT ROUNDS WITH THE, UH, IN THE FIELDS WITH THE, THE PROACTIVE LEAK DETECTION GROUP, WHICH WAS PREDOMINANTLY THE CONTRACTOR.
UH, MORE THE REACTIVE GROUP, ALTHOUGH THEY DO SOME PROACTIVE LEAK DETECTION AS WELL, WHICH IS THE, UM, THE AUSTIN WATER STAFF.
UH, AND YOU KNOW, SOME OF THE THINGS THAT CAME OUT OF THAT, THE, IN TERMS OF USE OF THE EQUIPMENT TRAINING, UM, YOU KNOW, A LOT OF THE TRAINING IS ON THE JOB.
SO EXPANDING THAT TO, UH, MORE ACTIVE, MORE ACTIVE, UM, UM, MONITORING AND VALIDATION OF THE, UH, OF THE INDIVIDUALS AND COLLABORATION BETWEEN THE TWO.
THERE WAS VERY LITTLE COLLABORATION THAT WAS HAPPENING BETWEEN THE TWO, UH, UH, TWO AREAS.
AND THEY'VE BOTH GOT THINGS TO OFFER, BOTH IN TERMS OF, YOU KNOW, HOW YOU DO IT AND THE EQUIPMENT THAT THEY'RE USING, AND THEN VALIDATION AND TRAINING OF EACH OTHER.
AND SO THAT'S ONE OF THE, THE MAJOR PIECES OF THE PUZZLE.
AND THEN BEING INVOLVED AND HAVING THIRD PARTY TRAINING SYSTEMS AS WELL.
'CAUSE IT WAS MAINLY FOCUSED ON THE VENDORS, WHICH IS MORE THAN FINE.
THEY DO A GOOD JOB, BUT YOU NEED TO HAVE OTHER OPERATIONAL CHARACTERISTICS AND UNDERSTANDING BEYOND THE EQUIPMENT THAT YOU'RE JUST USING IN THE FIELD AS WELL.
SO THAT WAS THE, ONE OF THE KEY FINDINGS.
LOTS OF SMALL, UH, PIECES OF THE PUZZLE THERE AS WELL.
UM, PLEASE, EMILY, DATA VALIDATION.
YEAH, SO I MENTIONED IN THE BEGINNING, YOU KNOW, WE HAD THE GRAPHIC OF THE TOP, THE, UM, THE TABLE.
UM, IF YOU REMEMBER, A 77 DATA VALIDITY AND ALL THOSE LINE ITEMS. SO THE PRODUCTION METERS WOULD HAVE A DATA VALIDITY, THE ACCURACY OF THE METERS, THE UNAUTHORIZED CONSUMPTION, ALL OF THOSE, UH, LINE ITEMS FOR THE WATER, OR IT WOULD HAVE A DATA VALIDITY SCORE.
UM, AND YEAH, SO YOU CAN SEE YOU'RE IN THE TIER FOUR.
UM, SO THIS IS BEEN DEVELOPED OVER A NUMBER OF YEARS THROUGH A NUMBER OF DIFFERENT, UM, ORGANIZATIONS.
IWA, UH, SO INTERNATIONAL WATER ASSOCIATION, AMERICAN WATERWORKS ASSOCIATION, A FEW OTHER PLACES AS WELL.
UM, THERE'S ONLY ONE, UM, UTILITY THAT I KNOW OF THAT I WOULD TRUST THE DATA OF THAT THEY HAVE, THAT THEY'RE IN TIER FIVE.
UM, AND SO YOU'RE IN, YOU KNOW, YOU'RE IN A, YOU'RE IN THE RIGHT ZONE.
UM, I THINK THERE ARE, SORRY, I DID THIS YESTERDAY AS WELL.
I GOT A BIT TOO CLOSE TO THE MICROPHONE.
UM, SO THE, YOU KNOW, MOVING UP INTO THAT 80 TO 90 ZONE WILL HELP, YOU KNOW, SOME OF THE THINGS, ONE OF THE THINGS I'M GONNA SHARE WITH YOU IN A, IN A SECOND IS ONE OF THOSE PIECES THAT'S GONNA TAKE, YOU KNOW, UH, IMPROVE THE DATA VALIDATION, BUT THERE'S A LOT OF COMPONENTS TO THIS, A LOT OF PIECES EVEN WITHIN EACH OF THOSE LINE ITEMS. LET'S GO TO, SO, UH, ONE OF THE PIECES OF THE PUZZLE, THIS GOES BACK TO THE PRODUCTION METERS, BUT IT'S DATA VALIDATION.
SO, UH, ONE OF THE, UH, IT'S, UH, ONE OF THE PLANTS, YOU CAN SEE WHICH ONE, UM, UH, FOR EXAMPLE, ONE OF THE METERS, WELL, A NUMBER OF THE METERS HAVE A, UM, TOP LINE.
[01:00:01]
THEY SHOULD BE READING 22 OR 22 AND A HALF MILLION GALLONS A DAY.UM, BUT AS TIME'S GONE ON, AS THEY'VE, ALL THE REASONS THAT I MENTIONED TO YOU BEFORE IN TERMS OF SETUP, IN TERMS OF CALIBRATION, IN TERMS OF, UM, DATA, UM, BOTH, YOU KNOW, COMING OUTTA THE SYSTEMS, THOSE WERE GETTING FLATLINED AS ONE OF THEM, THERE WAS A COUPLE OF THEM THAT WERE GETTING FLATLINED, SO THEY WERE NOT READING TO THE FULL, UM, UH, UH, EXPECTATION TO THE 22, 22 AND A HALF, UH, FOR PERIODS OF TIME, UH, IN THE, IN THE SYSTEM.
AND SO THAT WAS, OBVIOUSLY, THAT WAS A DISCREPANCY.
AND WE HAVE HAD, UM, THERE'S BEEN A NUMBER OF DISCUSSIONS ABOUT THIS, AS YOU CAN IMAGINE.
NOW THAT'S PART OF THE PUZZLE AS WELL.
BUT YOU SORT OF SEE THESE THINGS AND YOU'VE GOTTA GET, YOU'VE GOTTA GET REALLY INTO THE WEEDS WITH THIS.
YOU CAN'T, YOU CANNOT SEE IT ON MONTHLY.
YOU CANNOT SEE IT ON DAILY, EVEN HOURLY IS SOMETIMES DIFFICULT TO FIND IT.
SO YOU'VE REALLY GOTTA GO DOWN TO THE MINUTE OR THE FIVE MINUTE LEVEL.
AND THAT'S PART OF WHAT WE'RE GONNA CONNECT TO IN TERMS OF THE, YOU KNOW, THERE'S A LOT OF STRAT, UM, STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES.
THERE'S A LOT OF DASHBOARDING AND, AND MONITORING AND MANAGEMENT OF THESE DATA SETS THAT WE THINK CAN BE, UM, CAN BE HELPFUL GOING FORWARD.
SO WE'LL DO THE THREE RECOMMENDATION SLIDES AND THEN WE'LL FINISH JUST SO EVERYBODY'S GOT A, A CONNECTION WITH THE SORT OF THE COST AND THE, UH, AND THE FUTURE DETAILS.
SO I'M GONNA HIT APPARENT LOSS FIRST, THEN REAL LOSS, AND THEN SOME OF THE OTHER, UH, JUST A COUPLE OF THE OTHER BITS AND PIECES.
SO THE APPARENT LOSS RECOMMENDATIONS.
SO WE HAVEN'T, I HAVEN'T TOUCHED ON IT IN A GREAT DETAIL.
I JUST TOUCHED ON IT VERY, VERY BRIEFLY.
BUT THE TOP ONE THERE IS PRIORITY METER TESTING LARGE METERS.
SO, AS I MENTIONED, THERE'S A ONGOING PROGRAM ALMOST COMPLETE FOR THE SMALL METERS.
YEAH, THAT, SO THEY SHOULD BE, UH, I WOULD HOPE, AND I'M SURE EVERYBODY WOULD HOPE THAT THOSE METERS ARE GONNA BE REALLY ACCURATE COMING OUTTA THE GATE AND GOING FORWARD.
THERE'S BEEN SOME OF THE LARGE METERS THAT HAVE BEEN CHANGED OUT, BUT NOT ALL OF THEM.
AND SO THERE'S, AND THE UTILITY DOES GO ACTIVELY THROUGH, UM, ANALYZING THEM EVERY 18 MONTHS.
BUT THERE'S SOME IN PROBLEMATIC AREAS, UH, THERE'S A WHOLE HOST OF OTHER, UM, YOU KNOW, COMPLICATIONS, JUST THE WAY IT WORKS WITH THE METERING SYSTEMS, ESPECIALLY WITH THE LARGE ONES.
SO WE, WE WANT THERE TO BE A FOCUS ON THAT GOING FORWARD TO MAKE SURE THOSE ARE AS ACCURATE AS POSSIBLE.
'CAUSE THEY PROVIDE SOME OF THE BIGGEST VOLUMES IN THE, IN THE SYSTEM AS WELL.
METER TESTING, PROGRAM VALIDATION.
YOU KNOW, THIS IS, THIS IS A 10 YEAR PROGRAM AND WHAT I'VE, WHAT I GENERALLY ALWAYS SAY, IT TAKES FIVE TO SEVEN YEARS TO GET THESE THINGS.
ONCE YOU REALLY START GETTING AFTER THEM AND THE LOW HANGING FRUIT IS TAKEN OFF THE TREE, THEN YOU STILL NEED FIVE TO SEVEN YEARS TO REALLY GET THESE THINGS ACTIVE.
AND ALSO EVERYTHING'S DEGRADING ALL, ALL THE TIME.
YOUR PIPE'S DEGRADING, YOUR MEATS DEGRADING, THEY'RE GETTING OLDER, THE GOING THROUGH A CYCLE.
AND SO YOU'VE GOT TO KEEP ON IT.
UM, SO THAT'S ANOTHER PIECE OF THE PUZZLE.
BUT YEAH, TESTING, PROGRAM VALIDATION, YOUR SMALL METERS ARE GONNA START TO DEGRADE, HOPEFULLY NOT FOR A NUMBER OF YEARS, BUT YOU NEED TO HAVE A LOOK AT THOSE GOING FORWARD, MAKING SURE THEY'RE UP.
AND THEN OBVIOUSLY, EVEN IF YOU GET THE LARGE METERS REPLACED, YOU NEED TO GO THROUGH THE VALIDATION FOR THAT AS WELL.
YOU CAN SEE A COUPLE OF SOP DEVELOPMENTS, YOU KNOW, WE WANT TO MAKE SURE THIS IS MEMORIALIZED.
THERE'S A LOT OF PEOPLE GOING, UM, TO, UM, UH, TO RETIREMENT.
WE WANNA MAKE SURE WHEN THOSE PEOPLE GO TO RETIREMENT, WE'VE GOT THE PROCEDURES IN PLACE AND EVERYBODY JUST HAS TO FOLLOW THOSE AND, AND PUSH THE PROCEDURES OUT.
AND THAT WILL BE MEMORIALIZED THROUGH THOSE.
THERE'S METER SIZING, YOU KNOW, WE COULD GET IT'S, YEAH, SO LET'S JUST PICK A COUPLE MORE OF THESE.
SO THE, THE BILLING PROCESS EVALUATION, LET'S GO THERE.
SO METER SIZING IS IMPORTANT FOR THE, UH, ESPECIALLY WHEN THERE'S A CHANGE OF USE BILLING SYSTEM PROCESS EVALUATION.
THIS GETS AWAY FROM, THIS GOES TO ONE OF THE OTHER CONNECTED ITEMS THAT SYSTEMATIC DATA HANDLING ERRORS, IN THIS CASE, NOT THE METER ACCURACY.
SO THE SYSTEMATIC DATA HANDLING ERRORS.
SO MAKING SURE THAT EVERYTHING FROM WHEN THE CUSTOMER METER IS READ TO THE CUSTOMER RECEIVES A BILL IS ACCURATELY REPORTED.
THAT'S A TOUGH ONE TO DO ACTUALLY.
UM, BUT THAT'S PART OF THE DEAL HERE.
AND THEN THE A MI DATA MANAGEMENT, 'CAUSE YOU ARE GETTING AN A MI SYSTEM, YOU'RE ALREADY DOING SOME DATA MANAGEMENT.
BUT AGAIN, THAT CAN, THAT CAN BE USED FOR SO MANY THINGS FOR NOT JUST FOR THE METER ACCURACY, EVEN THOUGH THAT'S WHERE IT'S CONNECTED TO HERE.
YOU KNOW, IF A METER FAILS, YOU'RE GONNA SEE IT A LITTLE BIT FASTER, BUT A LOT OF THESE OTHER COMPONENTS AS WELL.
SO YEAH, THAT'S APPARENT LOSS OR A PIECE OF IT.
SO THESE ARE THE REAL MOLECULES OF WATER THAT WE'RE TRYING TO SAVE TO, TO, YOU KNOW, UM, I THINK EVERYBODY UNDERSTANDS THAT THE, THE, THE CONSERVATION, THE WATER CONSERVATION COMPONENT HERE AS WELL.
SO, UM, OPTIMIZE THAT PROACTIVE LEAK DETECTION AND FOCUS THERE ON PROACTIVE, YOU'RE DOING A LOT OF REACTIVE,
[01:05:01]
UM, BUT, YOU KNOW, MAKING SURE THAT WE'RE, UM, FINDING, MONITORING ALL THOSE MAINLINE LEAKS, MAKING SURE WE'VE GOT THAT CORRECT.MAKING SURE WE'RE GETTING ACTIVELY IN FRONT OF ALL THE SERVICE LINES, JUST LIKE THE, THE LEAD, UH, SIDE OF THINGS.
TRYING TO GET, GET ACTIVELY IN FRONT OF THAT SO THAT WE CAN, UH, DEAL WITH THAT.
UM, THEN, YOU KNOW, THERE'S ANOTHER, UH, SET OF SOP DEVELOPMENTS, UM, PILOTS.
SO THERE, THERE'S SO MANY NEW TECHNOLOGIES IN THE, UH, IN THE LEAK DETECTION INDUSTRY.
SO YOU'VE USED QUITE A LOT OF THEM SAT YEAH.
OR TESTED QUITE A LOT OF THEM.
YOU'VE GOT SOME VERY INTERESTING HIGH TECH EQUIPMENT.
YOU'VE DONE SATELLITE, UH, IMAGERY ANALYSIS AND THINGS LIKE THAT AS WELL.
BUT THERE'S ALWAYS SOMETHING NEW COMING OUT, AND AS LONG AS YOU'RE SENSIBLE ABOUT THAT, YOU, YOU ANALYZE AND TAKE THOSE ON.
SO THAT'S THE INNOVATIVE, UH, SIDE OF THINGS.
UM, ANNUAL LEAKAGE DETECTION TRAINING, YOU KNOW, EVEN AS AN EXAMPLE, THERE'S A LOT OF LISTENING THAT GOES INVOLVED IN THIS.
SO IF YOU REALLY WANT TO GET DOWN TO THE FINE TUNING OF THIS, UH, HEARING TESTS FOR THE, UH, FOR, FOR THE, UH, LEAK DETECTION TECHNICIANS, UM, AS, AS, AS, JUST AS A CRAZY EXAMPLE OF THE DETAIL YOU CAN GET DOWN TO ON THESE KIND OF THINGS.
LARGE DIAMETER LEAK DETECTION.
SO YOU ARE STILL DOING, I HAVEN'T REALLY TALKED ABOUT THAT.
WE'VE FOCUSED ON THE DISTRIBUTION LEAK DETECTION WITH THE, UH, UH, WHAT I WAS SHOWING YOU BEFORE.
BUT YOU ALSO DO, UH, DO LARGE DIAMETER LEAK DETECTION.
THAT'S, THAT'S VERY IMPORTANT AND COSTLY AS WELL AS YOU CAN PROBABLY IMAGINE IN TERMS OF THE VOLUME OF WATER, I THINK THERE'S A, UH, IT'S OCCASIONALLY YOU HAVE A VERY BIG LEAK AND IT CAUSES A, UH, A PROBLEM.
UH, BUT IN TERMS OF THE ACTUAL VOLUMES, GENERALLY THERE'S THE, BELIEVE IT OR NOT, THE SERVICE LINES THAT THE LARGEST VOLUME, THE MAIN LINES ARE THE SECOND LARGEST VOLUMES.
AND THEN THE TRANSMISSION FACILITY, UH, TRANSMISSION LINES ARE THE THIRD.
UH, BUT YOU KNOW, OBVIOUSLY THERE'S OTHER FACTORS IN THERE AS WELL, JUST TO GIVE YOU A FRAME.
UM, BUT THAT'S STILL IMPORTANT.
LIVES DAMAGE, LEAK DETECTION, YOU DON'T WANT THOSE FOR MANY REASONS.
UM, AND THEN THERE'S MONITORING.
SO WE, I'LL JUST TOUCH VERY BRIEFLY ON PRESSURE REDUCING AND DISTRICT NEEDED AREAS.
SO, UM, IF YOU HAVE A LEAK AND YOU REDUCE THE PRESSURE, THE PHYSICS OF IT'S GONNA MEAN THAT THERE'S GONNA BE LESS WATER THAT COMES OUTTA THAT LEAK.
UM, AND SO AGAIN, YOU'VE GOTTA BE CAREFUL BECAUSE YOU WANT TO MAKE SURE EVERYBODY'S GOT PRESSURE FOR THEIR SYSTEM.
YOU CANNOT GO BELOW A CERTAIN PRESSURE.
SO THERE'S, THERE'S COMPLICATIONS TO THAT, BUT JUST, UM, YOU KNOW, IN TERMS OF, UM, MANAGING, IT'S NOT ALWAYS ABOUT REDUCING, BUT MANAGING PRESSURE.
AND IN SOME CASES, IN CERTAIN CIRCUMSTANCES, REDUCING PRESSURE THAT CAN HAVE A MAJOR EFFECT ON, ON THE LEAKAGE CHARACTERISTICS.
SO JUST KEEP THAT AT THE BACK OF THE MIND AND WE WANT YOU TO HAVE A LOOK AT THAT AS WELL.
AND THEN DISTRICT METERS, DISTRICT METER AREAS AT THE, UH, STILL THE BEST WAY TO ACTUALLY DETERMINE HOW MUCH WATER IS, IS LEAKING OUT OF A SYSTEM.
SO YOU, YOU'RE ACTUALLY MEASURING GOING INTO A SPECIFIC AREA, SAY 3000, A THOUSAND TO 5,000 CONNECTIONS, AND YOU'RE ACTUALLY MONITORING THE WATER THAT'S GOING IN THERE.
AND YOU, BECAUSE OF YOUR A MI SYSTEM, YOU'RE GONNA BE ACTUALLY BE ABLE TO MONITOR HOW MUCH DEMAND THERE IS AND YOU CAN WORK OUT THE DIFFERENCE WHAT'S, YOU KNOW, THERE'S A FEW COMPONENTS OF THAT, BUT ONE OF THEM IS GONNA BE LEAKAGE.
AND SO, AND THEN AS YOU GET, REDUCE THAT LEAKAGE, YOU CAN ACTUALLY MONITOR IT AND SEE HOW MUCH YOU, HOW MUCH YOU'RE SAVING AND, AND GET TO THOSE DETAILS AS WELL.
YEAH, LET'S MOVE ON TO THE LAST TWO SLIDES THEN PLEASE.
OKAY, SO OTHER RECOMMENDATIONS, TRAINING, FIREFIGHTING, WE DON'T WANT TO STOP THE FIRE DEPARTMENTS FIGHTING FIRES, ABSOLUTELY NOT.
UM, BUT IN TERMS OF LOOKING AT THAT DATA AFTERWARDS, THAT'S PART OF THE, UM, UNBUILD AUTHORIZED PART OF NON-REVENUE, JUST AS AN EXAMPLE.
THERE'S A FEW COMPONENTS THERE.
AND THEN THE OTHER PIECE, I'LL HAVE DOUBLED BACK TO IT, THIS IS THE THIRD TIME PRODUCTION METER, IMPROVEMENTS IN VALIDATION.
THAT MAY MEAN CALIBRATION, IT MAY MEAN REFURBISHMENT, IT MAY MEAN REPLACEMENT.
SO THERE'S A FAIR, YOU KNOW, IN TERMS OF GETTING ANALYSIS AND, AND DOING SOME OF THIS STUFF AS WELL.
THAT'S GONNA BE A FAIRLY MAJOR COMPONENT OVER THE NEXT FEW YEARS TO, TO GET THOSE ON IN PLAY.
SO WE'RE GOING BACK TO THE TABLE IN THE BEGINNING.
SO THE 20, UH, AND THEN, UH, THAT'S ON THE TOP LEFT.
AND THEN IN THE, IN THE RIGHT HAND HALF IS THE, ON THE LEFT IS THE VOLUME, UH, BLUE IS REAL LOSS, RED IS APPARENT LOSS.
AND THEN THE OTHER COMPONENTS ARE IN GREEN OR, UM, PURPLE AND BLACK.
SO WE'RE FOCUSED ON THE REAL LOSS AND THE APPARENT LOSS.
SO, AND AS YOU CAN SEE, THERE'S A QUITE A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE RED BAR ON THE VOLUME VERSUS THE RED BAR ON THE COST.
[01:10:01]
THIS IS BECAUSE THE APPARENT LOSSES ARE COSTED AT, THEY, THEY'RE, TO ALL INTENTS AND PURPOSES, THE, THE WATER GETS TO THE METER, BUT IT DOESN'T GET BILLED OR PAID FOR.IT'S THE COST OF, UM, CUSTOMER RETAIL UNIT COST.
THE REAL LOSS COMPONENT IS COSTED AT HOW MUCH DOES IT, UM, HOW MUCH DOES IT TAKE, HOW MUCH MONEY DOES IT TAKE TO, UM, MAKE AN EXTRA MILLION GALLONS OF WATER? AND SO THE LABOR COSTS, THEY'RE ALL SUNK.
SO THERE'S, THAT'S NOT IN THE COST.
SO IT'S TREATMENT CHEMICALS, UM, AND A NUMBER OF OTHER FACTORS, BUT THAT'S WHY THAT'S AT A LOWER COST THAN THE APPARENT LOSS COST IS.
AND THAT'S WHY YOU'VE SEEN IT.
BUT LAST THING FROM ME, UM, THE REAL LOSS SIDE OF THINGS, THAT'S THE MAJOR AMOUNT OF VOLUME IN THIS, IN THIS EQUATION.
SO THERE, SORRY, MATT, OVER TO YOU.
NO, YEAH, NO NEED TO APOLOGIZE.
UM, I THINK WE'D LIKE FOR ME TO TALK ABOUT HOW WE'RE GONNA IMPLEMENT AND THEN TAKE THE QUESTIONS, UH, FROM THERE.
ANDREW, PLEASE STAY BY MY SIDE.
ALRIGHT, FOR, UH, FOR THE QUESTION AND ANSWERS PART.
SO, UH, SO MY NAME'S MATT CULLEN.
UH, I DID THAT AT THE BEGINNING.
THIS ANYWAYS, UM, DIVISION MANAGER, PIPELINE ENGINEERING AND OPERATIONS SUPPORT.
SO I'M GONNA FOLLOW UP ON WHAT, UH, ANDREW, UH, SAID, UH, UH, THE RECOMMENDATIONS THAT BLACK AND VEATCH MADE AND WHAT WE'RE GONNA DO TO IMPLEMENT THOSE.
AND GO AHEAD, GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE.
SO, YOU KNOW, THE LITTLE BIT OF, UH, WHY WE'RE HERE KIND OF THING.
UM, ALL ALL UTILITIES EXPECT, UH, EXPERIENCE WATER LOSS, UM, AND WE DO A LOT OF THINGS.
WE, WE HAVE BEEN INVOLVED IN THE, IN THE INDUSTRY, IN THE WATER LOSS COMMUNITY AND HAVE BEEN TAKING WATER LOSS SERIOUSLY.
UH, BUT THE LOSSES, UH, WERE INCREASING DESPITE OUR FAST RESPONSE TO REPORTED LEAKS, UH, DESPITE WHAT WE WERE DOING WITH REPLACING PIPES AND DOING THE PROACTIVE LEAK DETECTION.
SO, UM, HERE'S OUR GRAPH OF OUR, UH, SOMETIMES MALIGNED ILI IS THE, UM, MEASUREMENT FOR, UH, WATER LOSS IN THE INDUSTRY.
AND THIS KIND OF DISPLAYS WHAT I WAS TALKING ABOUT ON THE LAST SLIDE WE'RE, WE'RE DOING ALL THE THINGS, BUT, BUT IT WAS CREEPING UP.
OUR WATER LOSS WAS CREEPING UP IN THE YELLOW LINE, OR ORANGE LINE AS IT WERE.
THERE IS WHAT OUR GOALS WERE WHEN WATER FORWARD 2018 CAME OUT.
AS YOU CAN SEE, WE'RE IN ANTICIPATING, YOU KNOW, REDUCING OUR WATER LOSSES AND THEY WERE STILL INCREASING.
UM, AND THAT'S WHY WE BROUGHT BLACK AND VEATCH ON BOARD, UH, TO, TO PUT ANOTHER EYE ON WHAT WE'RE DOING AND GET SOME, SOME MORE RECOMMENDATIONS ON WHAT WE, UH, WHAT WE MIGHT BE ABLE TO DO BETTER.
SO, UH, WE'VE GOT BLACK AND VEATCH JUST REPORT, AND WE'VE ASSEMBLED A TEAM WITHIN, UH, THE UTILITY UTILIZING THE EFFECTIVE UTILITY MANAGEMENT, UH, FRAMEWORK.
UM, THIS IS ACROSS THE UTILITY.
IT'S NOT JUST IN OPERATIONS OR JUST IN ENGINEERING, UH, GETTING EVERYBODY INVOLVED IN, IN IMPLEMENTING, UH, UH, THESE RECOMMENDATIONS TO, UH, TO ACCOMPLISH WHAT WE'RE LOOKING TO ACCOMPLISH.
UM, SO THERE'S 30 SOME ODD RECOMMENDATIONS IN THE REPORT.
I'LL SPEND ABOUT 20 MINUTES EACH.
UM,
BUT THE PRESENTATION TONIGHT IS GONNA HIT ON, ON SOME OF THE HIGH POINTS OF, OF, UH, UH, WHAT WE'RE GONNA BE, UH, WHAT WE'RE GONNA BE DOING.
SO, UH, THIS COVERS BASICALLY ALL OF THE DIFFERENT AREAS, UH, THAT I'LL BE TALKING ABOUT TONIGHT.
SO, OUR PROACTIVE LEAK DETECTION PROGRAM, WHAT, SORRY, I'VE BEEN TURNED AWAY FROM Y'ALL
UM, SO, UH, REPORT FOUND AND THAT WE SHOULD CONTINUE TO DO WHAT WE'VE BEEN DOING WITH OUR, UH, LARGE DIAMETER AND SMALL DIAMETER, UH, LEAK DETECTION.
UH, THE CALCULATION WAS, HEY, OUGHT TO GET THROUGH THE SYSTEM ABOUT EVERY SIX YEARS.
AND THAT'S WHAT WE'VE BEEN DOING.
UM, THE PICTURE ON THE RIGHT IS SOMETHING WE FOUND WITH OUR, UH, LARGE DIAMETER CONDITION ASSESSMENT PROGRAM, A LINE WE LOOKED AT THAT WE DIDN'T NECESSARILY ANTICIPATE HAVING PROBLEMS WITH.
AND IT WAS A LONG LINE, AND MOST OF THE PIPE WAS GREAT, AND WE FOUND A PIPE THAT WAS NOT TOO FAR AWAY FROM FAILURE.
AND SO WE WERE ABLE TO AVOID, UM, UH, YOU KNOW, A CATASTROPHIC FAILURE, UH, OF THAT LINE WITH THAT PROGRAM.
SO THE REPORTS JUST KEEP DOING THAT, BUT THERE'S THINGS WE CAN DO BETTER.
UM, SO THERE'S SOME THINGS AROUND OUR, OUR CONTRACT STANDARDS AND WHAT REQUIRE IS THE DATA FROM THE CONTRACTOR AND HOW WE REVIEW THAT DATA, UM,
[01:15:01]
AND THE, THE CONTINUED STAFF TRAINING.UH, AND, AND ENHANCING THAT IS, IS ANOTHER ONE OF THE, UM, UH, SUGGESTIONS.
UM, ANDREW TOUCHED ON THE PILOTING OF NEW TECHNOLOGIES.
UM, YOU KNOW, WE'RE GONNA PUT THAT IN OUR SOP MAKE IT NOW.
I'M GETTING TOO CLOSE TO THE MIC.
UM, WE'RE GONNA MAKE THAT PART OF WHAT WE DO ON A, ON A STANDARD BASIS.
BUT, YOU KNOW, I'VE TALKED TO A COUPLE OF COMPANIES WITH NEW IDEAS JUST IN THE LAST COUPLE WEEKS AND, UM, AND WE'RE GOING TO KEEP DOING THAT.
AND, AND THEN I'VE GOT THE LINE ON THE BASELINE LEAK DETECTION.
AGAIN, THIS IS, UH, THE THEME THAT, UH, ANDREW HAD TALKED ABOUT IS UTILIZING THE DATA.
YOU KNOW, WHEN BLACK AND VEATCH DID THEIR REPORT, A BIG PART OF WHAT THEY DID WAS, UH, DASHBOARDING A LOT OF OUR DATA.
THAT'S HOW THEY SAW THE ISSUES WITH THE FLAT LINING.
AND SO TAKING THE DATA FROM MANY PLACES, PUTTING IT TOGETHER.
SO ANOMALIES ARE EASIER TO, TO CATCH AND BE SOMETHING THAT WE'RE DOING.
AND THEN ADDING IN SOME, UH, REGULAR, UH, INSPECTIONS OF OUR ARVS, OUR VALVES AND BULBS ON OUR TRANSMISSION MAINS.
UH, THOSE ARE PLACES WHERE, UH, YOU'RE MORE LIKELY TO SEE THE LEAKS AND WELL MORE LIKELY TO HAVE THE LEAKS AND, AND YOU CAN SEE THOSE.
SO WE'LL PUT THOSE IN A ROTATION TO, TO REGULARLY BE INSPECTED.
SO I WANNA TALK ABOUT OUR SYSTEM RENEWAL.
AND THIS IS JUST A QUICK SLIDE TO LAY OUT WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT WHEN I'M TALKING ABOUT A SERVICE LINE VERSUS THE MAIN.
SO OUR MAINS ARE THE, THE EIGHT INCH, 12 INCH AND, AND LARGER PIPES OUT UNDER THE STREET.
THEN THE SERVICE LINES ARE THE THREE QUARTER INCH TO TYPICALLY AROUND TWO INCH THAT RUN FROM THE MAIN TO THE METER.
AND SO IN THE NEXT COUPLE SLIDES, I'LL BE TALKING ABOUT WHAT WE'RE DOING, HOW WE'RE MANAGING THOSE ASSETS.
EVERYBODY'S HERE IS PRETTY FAMILIAR WITH THE RENEWING AUSTIN PROGRAM.
IT'S WHAT THE UTILITY'S DONE TO INVEST IN, UH, REPLACING OUR, OUR LEAKY, UM, MAIN LINES OVER THE LAST 15 YEARS.
UM, AND SO THIS GRAPH HERE IS SHOWING WHAT ARE, THIS IS, UH, MAINLINE LEAKS PER A HUNDRED MILES, UH, PER YEAR.
AND WE WERE IN BETWEEN WHAT A WWA WOULD, UH, INDICATE, OR THE WATER RESEARCH FOUNDATION MORE ACCURATELY WOULD SAY IS A OPTIMIZED UTILITY AND WHERE THE INDUSTRY AVERAGE WAS.
UH, BUT THROUGH OUR INVESTMENTS, WE'VE BEEN ABLE TO DRIVE THAT DOWN.
UM, AND SO WE WANNA KEEP DOING THAT, BUT THAT'S, THAT'S A SUCCESS STORY.
AND PART OF THIS IS PART OF WHERE WE WERE DOING GOOD HERE, BUT STILL LOSING WATER.
WHY WE, UM, BROUGHT IN BIKE IN VE TO LOOK AT WHAT WE WERE DOING.
AND THIS IS OUR SERVICE LINES.
AND SO, UM, THAT, THAT'S LABELED AS INDUSTRY AVERAGE, THAT'S ACTUALLY, UH, OPTIMIZED, UH, UH, AN OPTIMIZED UTILITY.
BUT THE, THE POINT IS THE SAME.
WE'RE WE'RE ABOVE, UM, WHERE WE'D LIKE TO BE, WHERE WE SHOULD BE.
UM, WE KNOW THIS IS RELATED TO THE POLYBUTYLENE SERVICES.
THAT'S MATERIAL THAT WAS USED LATE SIXTIES TO EARLY EIGHTIES.
UM, UM, AND, UM, KNOWN TO TO BE AN ISSUE.
OBVIOUSLY NOT KNOWN TO BE AN ISSUE AND IT WAS BEING PUT IN.
BUT SHORTLY THEREAFTER, WE, UH, WE AND ALL THE UTILITIES IN THE COUNTRY FOUND OUT.
AND, AND THAT'S WHERE A LOT OF OUR EFFORTS FROM OUR OPERATIONS GROUP GO.
IT'S, IT'S, IT'S MORE TO FIXING SERVICES THAN MAINS.
AND SO WE'VE, WE'VE HAD EFFORTS, UH, IN, IN 15, 20 YEARS AGO, I WAS EXECUTING PROJECTS, REPLACING POLYBUTYLENE SERVICES.
WE'RE CURRENTLY DOING THAT AS WELL.
BUT WHAT THIS IS TELLING US IS WE NEED TO KIND OF REDOUBLE OUR EFFORTS.
UM, AND SO THAT'S ONE OF THE RECOMMENDATIONS.
AND SO IN OUR, OUR CAPITAL PROGRAM GOING FORWARD, THERE'LL BE, UH, A BIGGER SLICE OF THE PIE GOING TOWARDS, UH, SERVICE LINES.
AND I THINK THERE'S SOMETHING THAT CAN, UH, THAT CAN REALLY HELP US.
WE'RE ALSO WORKING ON HOW WE MANAGE SERVICES, UH, LESS REPAIRS AND MORE REPLACEMENTS WHEN THERE'S A LEAK REPLACED IN THE WHOLE THING, UH, UPFRONT.
UH, YOU KNOW, THE, THE, THE LEAK IS ON A LINE THAT CROSSES WILLIAM CANNON OR SOMETHING.
BUT, SO HOW WE'RE MANAGING AND HOW WE'RE INVESTING WITH OUR CIP, MORE OF IT TOWARDS OUR SERVICE LINES, I THINK WE CAN, WE CAN MAKE SOME REAL PROGRESS THERE.
UM, ALSO THE, THE PRODUCTION METER IMPROVEMENTS, AS ANDREW ALLUDED TO THAT, UM, IT'S NOT NECESSARILY SAVING US THE, THE MOLECULES OF WATER, BUT IF WE DON'T HAVE THAT RIGHT NUMBER AT THE BEGINNING, UM, THEN IT'S VERY, IT'S HARDER TO KNOW, UH, WHERE YOU'RE AT.
AND SO, UM, YOU KNOW, WE'VE GOT PROCESSES FOR MAINTAINING AND, AND CALIBRATING THE METERS WHERE WE'RE LOOKING AT DOING A STRENGTHENING THAT, PUTTING THOSE TOGETHER, UM, AND SOPS, ADDING IN SECONDARY TESTING.
UM, THAT'S SOMETHING WE'LL, UH, WE'VE EMPLOYED PREVIOUSLY.
A, A, A CONSULTANT ON, PROBABLY NEED TO DO THAT AGAIN, BUT EVENTUALLY BRING IT IN-HOUSE.
UH, SOMETHING TO, UH, TO CHECK OUR METERS WITH, WITH SECONDARY METER TESTING.
UM, AND THEN THE, THE STUDYING, THE CONFIGURATION AND FIGURING OUT, UH, WHICH ONES REALLY WE NEED TO INVEST IN FROM A
[01:20:01]
CAPITAL STANDPOINT AND GETTING THEM REPLACED.THIS IS ONE OF THE RECOMMENDATIONS WE'LL TAKE A LITTLE BIT LONGER, UM, UH, TO GET DONE.
SO WE'RE GONNA GET THAT, THAT BALL ROLLING.
BUT THAT'S SO WE CAN KNOW WHERE WE'RE AT.
AND, AND THIS WILL SERVE DIVIDENDS TO US IN OUR RECORDS AND OUR, OUR AUDITING FOR YEARS TO COME.
UM, THE APPARENT LOSS, UH, TRACKING.
WE'VE GOT A NUMBER OF, UH, SOPS RELATED, UH, TO HOW WE DO METER TESTING.
UM, WE'VE GOT A CONTRACTOR DOING, UH, LARGE METER TESTING FOR US FOR OUR LARGE CUSTOMER METERS.
SO WE'RE GONNA BE LOOKING TO VALIDATE SOME OF WHAT THEY'RE DOING, YOU KNOW, A A SAMPLE OF WHAT THEY'VE TESTED.
WE'LL GO BACK AND TEST, UH, AND WE'LL LOOK AT PROPER METER SIZING.
'CAUSE IF YOU DON'T HAVE THE RIGHT SIZE METER FOR THE LEVEL OF DEMAND, THEN YOU'RE NOT ACCURATE.
IT'S NOT THAT WE HAVEN'T LOOKED AT THESE THINGS, BUT WE'LL BE LOOKING AT 'EM AGAIN AND, AND, UH, UH, UH, REFINING HOW WE HANDLE THOSE AND GETTING THOSE INTO THE SOPS.
AND THEN AGAIN, WE'RE GONNA HAVE ALL NEW METERS, UM, BUT WE STILL NEED TO HAVE A PLAN FOR REPLACEMENT FOR, FOR WHEN THEY, UH, FIND THEIR WAY OUT OF CALIBRATION.
AND THEN, UH, THE WATER LOSS TRACKING, UH, UH, THAT'S DONE.
SO WE'RE GONNA TAKE ALL OF THIS, AND THIS IS ANOTHER ONE OF THOSE THINGS ABOUT INSTITUTIONAL KNOWLEDGE.
I'M SORRY, I'M NOT CALLING HIM UP TO TALK.
UM, HE'S THE ONE THAT, UH, UH, PUTS OUR NUMBERS TOGETHER AND, AND WE'RE LOOKING AT GETTING MORE OF US, UH, TO JOIN DAN AND GETTING THE TRAINING AND, UM, UH, HOW TO DO THIS AND HOW IT'S DONE.
UM, AND EVEN BEYOND THE PEOPLE THAT ACTUALLY DO IT, JUST TO HAVE AN UNDERSTANDING OF, OF, UH, HOW IT WORKS.
AND GETTING THEN IN THAT INTO SOPS AND GETTING HOW THE, UH, THE DATA IS COLLECTED AND HOW IT'S MOVED FROM ONE SYSTEM, UH, TO ANOTHER.
YOU KNOW, ONE OF THE ITEMS IN THERE IS ESTIMATIONS FOR WATER THAT'S USED FOR FLUSHING THE SYSTEM OR WATER THAT'S USED FOR FIREFIGHTING.
UM, AND, AND WE, WE DON'T JUST COME TO THE END OF THE YEAR AND GO, WE THINK THERE WERE A FEW FIRES, A COUPLE MILLION GALLONS OR SOMETHING.
WE, WE, WE TRACK THESE THINGS AS THEY, THEY HAPPEN.
WE HAVE WORK ORDERS FOR, FOR FLUSHING TO TRACK THOSE VOLUMES.
BUT IT'S BEEN A LITTLE WHILE SINCE OUR ASSUMPTIONS, UH, HAVE BEEN REVIEWED.
AND SO THAT'S SOMETHING WE'RE GONNA GO BACK AND LOOK AT AGAIN AND, AND REVISE OUR ASSUMPTIONS THERE, SEE IF THERE'S ANYTHING WE CAN IMPROVE ON THERE.
UH, BUT WE'RE GONNA CONTINUE TO BE ACTIVE IN THE WATER LOSS INDUSTRY.
UM, GOING TO THE, TO THE, UH, CONFERENCES.
AND DAN'S A FORMER CHAIR OF THE, UH, A WWA WATER LOSS, UH, COMMITTEE, UM, AND STILL INVOLVED.
I WAS IN CONFERENCE CALLS YESTERDAY, TODAY.
UM, SO WE'RE GONNA CONTINUE THAT.
AND THEN, UH, NEAR THE END OF HIS, UH, PRESENTATION, UH, ANDREW WAS TALKING ABOUT OUR DATE OF VALIDITY SCORES.
UM, YOU KNOW, WE'RE IN A GOOD PLACE THERE, UH, UP AT 77, AS YOU MENTIONED, ONE UTILITY THAT HE KNOWS OF, UH, UH, ABOVE 90.
UM, WE'RE, WE'RE NOT GONNA ALLOW IT TO GO DOWN
UH, AGAIN, THAT TRACKING PART SO THAT WE CAN KNOW WHERE WE'RE AT.
I'LL TAKE CREDIT THAT IT DIDN'T, DIDN'T COME OUT.
UM, AND THEN THERE'S DISTRICT METERED AREAS.
UM, SO, UH, JUST A QUICK, YOU KNOW, ANDREW TALKED ABOUT IT SOME, BUT THAT'S BASICALLY TAKING A SMALL PART OF YOUR SYSTEM, MEASURING EVERYTHING IN, MEASURING WHAT THE CONSUMPTION IS AND SEEING WHAT, UH, THE DIFFERENCE IS.
UH, WE'VE PILOTED TWO OF THOSE, UM, AND IT'S GONNA GO LIVE UTILIZING OUR A MI SYSTEM BY THE END OF THE YEAR.
UH, AND, AND WE'LL BE LOOKING AT DOING, ADDING MORE TO THAT.
THESE CAN BE CAPITAL INTENSIVE TO SET UP, UH, AND, AND A CHALLENGE IN A VERY CONNECTED SYSTEM LIKE WE HAVE.
UH, BUT THEY CAN PAY DIVIDENDS, UH, AND FINDING NARROWING DOWN WHERE YOU HAVE, UH, WATER LOSS.
AND SO A RECOMMENDATION FROM THE REPORT.
WE'RE ALREADY ON OUR WAY TO DOING THIS AND, AND WE'LL BE STRENGTHENING IT AS TIME GOES FORWARD.
ANOTHER AREA WHERE TECHNOLOGY'S REALLY HELPING OUT GETTING THAT GRANULAR DATA FROM A A MI CAN REALLY HELP THE USEFULNESS OF THIS APPROACH.
I WAS GONNA HIT THE BUTTON AGAIN TO ADVANCE THE SLIDE.
CAN WE GO TO THE NEXT ONE? UM, SO, OH, OKAY.
SO, UH, NEXT STEPS WE'RE GONNA DO WHAT, WHAT ANDREW SAID, UM, THAT THAT'S REALLY IT
UM, WE'RE GONNA LOOK AT, AT THE RECOMMENDATIONS, WHAT ARE THE THINGS WE CAN DO QUICKLY AND, AND GET THOSE DONE AND GET THEM INTO PLAY RIGHT AWAY.
THE THINGS THAT TAKE LONGER, LIKE THE CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS FOR THE, UH, THE PRODUCTION METERS.
GET THE BALL ROLLING ON THOSE SO THAT, UH, SO THAT WE CAN GET 'EM TO THE END.
AND OF COURSE, REGULARLY REPORT BACK TO, UH, TO Y'ALL ON, ON HOW WE'RE DOING ON, ON GETTING THOSE THINGS DONE.
SO I DIDN'T COVER EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THE RECOMMENDATIONS
[01:25:01]
EXCEPT I DID WITH AN UMBRELLA.WE'RE WE'RE, WE'RE GONNA GET 'EM ALL DONE, MATT.
UM, AND ALSO, ANDREW, VERY, VERY INFORMATIVE.
UM, AND WE ALL APPRECIATE THE REPORT.
I'M GLAD YOU DIDN'T READ IT TO US
AND I, THIS WAS VERY INFORMATIVE TO ME.
COMMISSIONERS, DO YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS? I, I GUESS I DO.
UM, YOU MAY NEED TO LIKE IMPLEMENT THE DISTRICT METER METERING AREAS BEFORE ANSWERING THIS, BUT ARE, IS THERE ANY KIND OF GEOGRAPHIC CLUSTERING OF THE SERVICE LINE BREAKS OR HAVE YOU LOOKED INTO THAT? YEAH, SO, SO WE KNOW WHERE THOSE POLYBUTYLENE SERVICES ARE.
AND IN FACT, KIND OF DID A DOUBLE, A DOUBLE CHECK 'CAUSE WE'RE FOCUSING ON REPLACING POLYBUTYLENE SERVICES.
AND I THOUGHT TO MYSELF, WELL REALLY WE NEED TO REPLACE THE SERVICES THAT ARE BREAKING.
AND SO, UH, UH, MY ENGINEER THAT, THAT REPORTS TO ME, THAT'S OUR, UH, RISK ASSESSMENT AND PROJECT SCOPING ENGINEER LOOKED AT ALL, AND, AND WHERE DO WE NEED AND WHERE DO WE HAVE THE CLUSTERS? AND IT IS THE NEIGHBORHOODS THAT WERE PUT IN WITH POLYBUTYLENE.
SO, SO WE, WE KNOW WHERE THEY'RE AT, UH, TO A VERY HIGH LEVEL OF, OF ACCURACY.
AND SO WE'VE BEEN TARGETING THOSE NEIGHBORHOODS, PARTICULARLY THE ONES IN THE HIGHEST PRESSURE AREAS THAT COINCIDES WITH WHERE WE'VE HAD THE MOST BREAKS.
AND THAT, THAT WAS GONNA BE MY NEXT QUESTION.
BUT IT SOUNDS LIKE YOU'VE ALREADY ACCO LIKE, THOUGHT OF THAT AS WELL.
ANYBODY ELSE? I'M NOT SURE WHETHER KEVIN CRIDEN SHOULD GET CREDIT OR BLAME FOR CARRYING AROUND A PIECE OF POLYBUTYLENE, UH, SERVICE LINE, BUT, UH, IT'S VERY BRITTLE, HAPPY TO SHARE.
I, I SAW HIM HAND IT TO YOU AND ONLY I GET EXCITED ABOUT THAT BECAUSE I REMEMBER WHEN WE WERE, IT WAS, WE WERE PULLING OUTTA THE DESIGN STANDARDS WHEN I FIRST MOVED HERE.
SO IT'S BEEN A MINUTE, BUT, UM, UH, GOOD.
UM, ALL OF THE LARGER UTILITIES HAVE TO REPORT TO THE STATE ON THEIR WATER LOSS EVERY YEAR.
AND AUSTIN SITS PRETTY GOOD COMPARED TO THE OTHER CITIES OF THAT SIZE.
SO, UM, WHEN I WAS DIGGING THROUGH THAT, 'CAUSE I'M FIGHTING TO GET THE LEGISLATURE TO FUND WATER.
AND I, YOU KNOW, I DO, I'M INTERESTED IN KNOWING WHAT OTHERS ARE DOING TO SEE IF I'M, I, IF WE ARE MISSING ANYTHING.
UH, BUT, YOU KNOW, WE WANNA DO THE BEST THAT WE CAN DO.
IF, IF WE DO A LOT BETTER THAN THEM, THAT'S EVEN BETTER.
[11. Update from the Austin Integrated Water Resource Planning Community Task Force meeting regarding Water Forward Plan implementation and progress on plan updates – Commissioner William Moriarty]
UM, WELL, IF THERE'S NO OTHER QUESTIONS FOR COMMISSIONERS, I'LL GO UP TO THE NEXT ITEM ON COMMITTEE UPDATES.ITEM 11, UPDATE FOR, FOR THE AUSTIN INTEGRATED WATER RESOURCE PLANNING COMMITTEE, TASK FORCE MEETING REGARDING WATER FORWARD PLAN, IMPLEMENTATION, AND PROGRESS ON PLAN UPDATES.
COMMISSIONER MORTY, DO YOU HAVE AN UPDATE FOR US TODAY? I DO.
WE MET YESTERDAY, A LARGE PART OF OUR MEETING WAS, UH, RELATED TO THIS BLACK AND BEACH STUDY, AND WE HEARD GENERALLY THE SAME PRESENTATION THAT WE JUST HEARD, WHICH IS QUITE IMPRESSIVE.
AND WE'RE, UM, HAPPY, UH, THAT THESE TYPES OF THINGS ARE TAKING PLACE.
WE ALSO DISCUSSED OUR SCHEDULE FOR COMPLETING THREE ITEM ITEMS OF WORK, WHICH IS THE WATER CONSERVATION PLAN, THE DROUGHT CONTINGENCY PLAN, AND THE 2024 UPDATE TO THE, UH, WATER SUPPLY PLAN.
SO ALL THREE OF THOSE THINGS ARE IN MOTION.
WE'RE HAVING LOTS OF MEETINGS, REVIEWING DRAFTS, REVIEWING RED LINES, UH, MAKING SUGGESTIONS.
I BELIEVE WE'RE TARGETING, UH, I BELIEVE THE LOST WATER IS TARGETING THE NOVEMBER 21ST CITY COUNCIL MEETING TO GET THESE THINGS APPROVED.
AND, UH, WE'RE JUST, UH, HELPING THEM.
IF, IF ANYBODY WANTS TO DESCRIBE WHAT WE DO AS HELP, UH, WE'RE TRYING TO BE HELPFUL AND, UH, GETTING IT DONE.
UH, COMMISSIONER, DO YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS FOR COMMISSIONER MORTY ON THE WATER FORWARD TASK FORCE? EXCELLENT.
WELL, I, UM, I, YOU'RE KUDOS TO YOUR TIME IN THAT BILL.
I KNOW YOU'VE BEEN INVOLVED IN IT IN A VERY LONG, FOR A VERY LONG TIME AND IT'S, I THINK IT'S VERY IMPORTANT FOR THE CITY AND, UH, VERY PROACTIVE OF THE CITY TO DO THAT.
SO I'M, I'M HAPPY THAT THAT'S GOING SO WELL, AND THANK YOU FOR THE UPDATE.
[01:30:02]
UM, NEXT ITEM IS, UH, ITEM 12 UPDATE FOR THE JOINT SUSTAINABILITY COMMITTEE MEETING REGARDING CONSERVATION SUSTAINABILITY INITIATIVES.UM, COMMISSIONER MAXWELL GAINS IS NOT HERE TONIGHT, I'M ASSUMING WE DON'T HAVE AN ALTERNATE ON THAT COMMITTEE YET, SO I'M ASSUMING WE DON'T HAVE AN UPDATE ON THAT.
[FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS]
RIGHT.FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS. COMMISSIONERS, DO WE HAVE ANY FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS THAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO DISCUSS? SO I DON'T KNOW IF IT'S AN AGENDA ITEM, BUT JUST I'M CURIOUS IF WE COULD THAT, THAT GIANT BREAK FROM THREE, THOSE 360 AND SPICEWOOD NOT TOO LONG AGO, OBVIOUSLY IT WAS ALL OVER THE NEWS.
JUST CURIOUS FOR AN UPDATE, MAYBE A TIMELINE OF RESPONSE, UM, KIND OF HOW DID THAT GO FOR Y'ALL? I MEAN, DID ALL THE THINGS THAT, YOU KNOW, WHETHER IT WAS FROM THE INTERNAL AUDIT OR THE EXTERNAL AUDIT, ALL THOSE THINGS, YOU KNOW, DID THAT HELP WITH RESPONSES? UM, JUST CURIOUS TO GET, UH, JUST AN UPDATE ON IT.
ANY OTHER ITEMS FOR THE AGENDA? ALL RIGHT, WELL, COMMISSIONERS, IT IS, UH, THE MEETING.
I AM GONNA CALL THE MEETING TO ADJOURN AT 7 35.