Employee Snap Shot-Nathan Vandenberg, Meter Technician

Tuesday, 28 April 2009

As one of Clearfield City’s Meter Technicians, Nathan Vandenberg sees the good and the not-so-good side of Clearfield residents. He takes water meter readings, installs new meters and flushes fire hydrants, but he is also one of the guys who delivers utility bill delinquent notices and shuts off the water when a resident doesn’t pay their bill. “The least favorite part of my job is having to shut off someone’s water,” says Vandenberg. “Especially when they come bursting out of their front door with a towel wrapped around their waist because their shower was interrupted!” Nate, as he likes to be called, records water meter readings from over 6,000 meters across the city. Luckily, the formerly manual process has been streamlined by the city utilizing a radio responder system. “Almost every water meter in our city has a transponder. As we drive a specific route throughout the neighborhoods and businesses this transponder relays the meter reading to a laptop computer in our truck,” explained Nate. “This information is then downloaded into the city’s billing system. The advantage in using this kind of system is that we can easily red flag possible water leaks a lot quicker.” Using computer technology, Nate and the city billing clerk can note if a residences’ water use has an unusual increase from one month to the next, taking into account the time of year. “Obviously, water use increases during the summer, however, if there is a jump from one month to the next, say from January to February, it could possibly mean a water leak that hasn’t been detected,” explained Nate. The old way of manually checking meters meant a water leak could go undetected for several weeks or more. “That is what I like best about this job, helping people. We’ve been able to save them a lot of money by discovering a leak early on,” said Nate. A residential water meter is located about three feet below the surface of the yard usually between the sidewalk and curb/gutter, and sports a brown lid. Some older neighborhoods have their meters in the middle of the yard. The transponder located in the meter box acts as an antenna. The distance the truck/laptop has to be from the transponder varies, partly based on weather conditions, or if a transponder is submerged in water, typically from snow melts. On a clear day the transponders read better than on a cloudy day. It takes two technicians about one and a half weeks to read all 6,000 meters, along with a handful of manual readings (some meters are not compliant with the antennas the city uses, or it’s not practical to change them out at this time). Nate is responsible for flushing the city’s 1,000 fire hydrants; each hydrant is flushed and pressure tested every three years. Hydrant flushing is not mandatory, however if the city is doing regular maintenance and flushing hydrants, the city’s Insurance Service Organization (ISO) rating excels. With the city having a good ISO rating this may have a positive effect on the cost of a resident’s homeowner insurance rate. “From April through September we’ll be flushing about 325 hydrants a year ensuring a good pressure flow, and cleaning out any sediment that may have accumulated,” explained Nate. So, if you see a couple of guys wearing bright orange shirts messing with your neighborhood fire hydrant you’ll know that’s their job - they’re just making sure that in case of a fire the hydrant is ready for business! Vandenberg, who has been with the city for six months, took over the Meter Technician II position when the previous technician recently retired. Instead of hiring two part-time employees for the hydrants, for which the city had originally budgeted, it was decided to add this responsibility to Vandenberg’s position. The city has plans to hire another full-time employee to help with meter reading/installation, delinquent notices, and hydrant flushing. Nate, who grew up in Northern Utah, joined the U.S. Navy in 2006. As a Religious Programs Specialist in the Navy Reserves he deployed for a year and a half on the U.S.S. Wasp in support of hurricane aid in the Gulf of Mexico, and Operation Iraqi Freedom. Upon returning from his deployment in August of 2008, he was hired in his current position with Clearfield City. Vandenberg, married for five years, is currently attending CERT (Citizens Emergency Response Team) training with the city, as well as working on his Water Distribution III certification through the Utah State Division of Drinking Water. He has plans to utilize his G.I bill by continuing to work on his college degree beginning this summer.

Last Updated ( Monday, 22 June 2009 )

 

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