Mueller And Ferguson Waterworks Deliver LoRaWAN® Class B Nodes With AMI System

ATLANTA – Mueller and Ferguson Waterworks today announced the successful deployment of the industry’s first LoRaWAN^® Class B endpoints. The Town of Florence located in Central Pinal County, Arizona, is the first water utility to benefit from this technology advancement. LoRaWAN Class B endpoints provide flexibility to scale network coverage and integrate into remote disconnect meters (RDM), leak detection and pressure monitoring systems – unlocking greater network efficiency and improving data granularity.

“The deployment of smart meters is accelerating our journey toward digital transformation and the foundation required to build out our smart city grid,” said Brent Billingsley, Town Manager of the Town of Florence. “We are confident that this open source network will provide new operational efficiencies, enhanced service opportunities and additional revenue streams.”

Delivered by Mueller Systems, the Mi.Net^® node, implemented with LoRaWAN Class B specifications, is a bi-directional endpoint capable of transmitting secure data to and from a network server within seconds, as opposed to hours with a Class A endpoint. At this unprecedented speed of communication, on-demand reads can be commanded and delivered without delay, providing real-time data to customer service and operations to identify and resolve outages quicker than before.

“It is encouraging to see more cities and water utilities like the Town of Florence at the forefront of the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) revolution,” said Kenji Takeuchi, Senior Vice President, Technology Solutions at Mueller. “We understand that municipalities are facing challenges on many fronts. Our technology solutions can help drive a better focus on utility spending and return on investment, while helping them operate more efficiently.”

By deploying Mi.Net^® LoRaWAN Class B endpoints, the Town of Florence can simply pair them with Mueller Systems’ model 420 RDM to allow water meters to be turned on or off without the need for truck rolls.

Each LoRa-based endpoint maintains the data in its non-volatile onboard memory and communicates with the Mueller Mi.Net^® Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) system. This helps to ensure water utilities are protected against any single point of failure. Alerts such as leak detection, no flow, low flow, and register tampering are monitored 24/7 by the Mueller Network Operations Center to provide an added layer of security.

For more information on the Mi.Net^® LoRaWAN^® Class B endpoints, visit https://muellersystems.com/lorawan

ABOUT MUELLER WATER PRODUCTS, INC.

Mueller Water Products, Inc. (MWA) is a leading manufacturer and marketer of products and services used in the transmission, distribution and measurement of water in North America. Our broad product and service portfolio includes engineered valves, fire hydrants, pipe connection and repair products, metering products, leak detection, and pipe condition assessment.  We help municipalities increase operational efficiencies, improve customer service and prioritize capital spending, demonstrating why Mueller Water Products is Where Intelligence Meets Infrastructure^®. Visit us at www.muellerwaterproducts.com.

About MUELLER SYSTEMS, LLC.

Mueller Systems LLC is a subsidiary of Mueller Water Products. Mueller Systems is a leader in developing technologies and components that make collecting data easier and more beneficial to water utilities and their customers.

About FERGUSON

Ferguson (www.ferguson.com) is the largest wholesale distributor of residential and commercial plumbing supplies and pipe, valves and fittings in the U.S. The company is also a major distributor of HVAC equipment, fire protection systems, waterworks and industrial products and services. Founded in 1953 and headquartered in Newport News, Va., Ferguson has annual sales of $18.4 billion and approximately 27,000 associates in 1,400 locations. Ferguson and its subsidiaries serve customers in all 50 states, Puerto Rico, Mexico and the Caribbean. Ferguson is part of Ferguson plc (www.fergusonplc.com), which is listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE: FERG) and on the FTSE 100 index of listed companies.