HERNDON, Va., Oct. 5, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) has received a contract from The Metropolitan District Commission (MDS) of Hartford, Conn., to provide an automatic meter reading (AMR) system that will automate data collection of the district's residential, commercial and industrial water meters.
Under the contract, Northrop Grumman's Information Technology (IT) sector, will provide a mobile AMR system for 55,000 of the district's 96,000 water meters including radio-frequency meter transmitters and receivers, which are manufactured by RAMAR LLC, Research Triangle Park, N.C. The AMR system will also include Northrop Grumman VersaTerm(r) handheld computers, Northrop Grumman VersaProbe(r) touchread devices, and meter-reading data-management software. The readings, along with tamper and other pertinent data, will be downloaded to the district's customer information and billing system at the completion of each day's work.
"This AMR system no longer requires meter readers to access property, increases accuracy of readings, and enhances the safety of district personnel by reducing exposure to hazards," said Joe Delaney, vice president of commercial information services for Northrop Grumman IT. "Additionally, the new system will enable the district to improve operating efficiencies, and reduce meter-reading costs."
Once the system is deployed, meters will transmit readings to mobile receivers either carried by district meter readers or mounted in their vehicles. Collected reading, tamper and identification data is downloaded directly to the system computer at district operations headquarters where it is formatted and transferred to the customer information and billing system.
Work on installing the system is scheduled to begin this month and will be concluded as district personnel complete installations through the next five years.
In evaluating several AMR providers, the MDC chose Northrop Grumman and RAMAR based on its open architecture and competitively priced system.
The contract is valued at $2.9 million over six years.
Northrop Grumman Information Technology, headquartered in Herndon, Va., is a trusted IT leader and premier provider of advanced IT solutions, engineering and business services for government and commercial clients. The company's technological leadership spans such areas as homeland security solutions, secure wireless, cyber and physical assurance, IT and network infrastructure, managed services, knowledge management, modeling and simulation, and geospatial intelligence solutions.
A non-profit municipal corporation chartered by the Connecticut General Assembly in 1929, the Metropolitan District Commission (MDC) supplies water and sewer services to its eight member municipalities: Bloomfield, East Hartford, Hartford, Newington, Rocky Hill, West Hartford, Wethersfield and Windsor. The MDC also supplies treated water to the Town of Portland and portions of Glastonbury, East Granby, South Windsor and Farmington.