ABB Awarded Boston Water Meter Replacement & Automatic Meter Reading -AMR- Deployment; ABB Heads Team for $22 Million Project.

Business Editors

The Boston Water and Sewer Commission (BWSC) has awarded ABB a $22 million, 36-month contract to replace 79,000 aging water meters and upgrade Boston's meter reading system to an automated Fixed Network Radio System.

ABB will provide project management and supply ABB absolute encoder water meters equipped with the Hexagram Fixed Network RF system. Honeywell will manage system installation. This award follows December's award by the District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority of a three-year meter replacement and AMR system upgrade contract including 130,000 new ABB absolute encoder register water meters.

"We've undertaken this initiative to improve the effectiveness of our meter reading and customer service operations, and believe implementing automatic meter reading for all customers will most significantly enhance service to our customers," said Vincent Mannering, BWSC Executive Director. "The key to implementing this large task successfully is teamwork, and ABB has demonstrated strength beyond metering and AMR and has approached the project as a partnership with the BWSC."

"It is a genuine compliment to the ABB Team to be selected by Boston," commented Joakim Weidemanis, ABB Water Meters President. "BWSC is a progressive organization and had rigorous criteria for evaluating both technology and track record. We're delighted by the opportunity and challenge this contract presents."

ABB (http://www.abb.com) is a global leader in power and automation technologies that enable utility and industrial customers to improve performance while lowering environmental impact. In addition to producing over 8 million water meters each year, ABB is the world's leading supplier to the water industry, and is a leading source for water supply and wastewater treatment plants, instrumentation and control products, motors and drives and water application software. ABB has some 152,000 employees in more than 100 countries. The company's U.S. operations employ more than 14,000 people in manufacturing and other facilities in 40 states.

Hexagram, Cleveland, OH, has supplied advanced utility reading and AMR Systems for nearly 20 years. ABB and Hexagram have partnered for deployment of more than 350,000 Fixed Network radio AMR meters.

Honeywell is a diversified technology and manufacturing leader, serving customers worldwide with aerospace products and services; control technologies for buildings, homes and industry; automotive products; power generation systems; specialty chemicals; fibers; plastics; and electronic and advanced materials. Honeywell employs approximately 120,000 people in 95 countries.

Additional information on ABB's Metering Solutions and Project Capabilities can be found at www.abb.com/metering (select Water Metering, North America, Turnkey Solutions) or by contacting the Customer Service Team, P.O. Box 1852, Ocala FL, 34478. In the U.S. Outside Florida, please call 800-874-0890 or inside Florida 800-356-6829. In Canada please phone [phone], in the Caribbean 787-872-2006 or in Mexico 525-328-1400.