Customers that don't pay utility bills are subject to termination of their gas and water services, subject to a $105 reconnection charge on top of what they already owe, can be without utilities for days, and must take off work to allow for access to inside their home to relight gas pilots. New technology at the meter can eliminate much of this expense, labor commitment, and inconvenience to the benefit of both the customer and utilities.

• Integrate with existing water meters
• Target to a small population of water meters where the tool would be best utilized
• Throttle water levels to certain water meters as opposed to turning off the water meters

Questions & Answers

General

What is a challenge based procurement?  

Challenge based procurement lets us as City staff articulate our challenge without prescribing how we want it to be solved. We are asking for tech vendor insights into how we might solve this challenge. If you think you can help, take 30 minutes and fill out our application.  

Will the pilot end after 6 months or is there potential for the pilot to carry on? 

The timelines have some flexibility but proposers should not expect for the pilot period to last longer than 6 months. The timeline for the pilot project will be finalized during the project scoping process. For questions on transitioning to a larger scale project, see question 5.  

What happens with leftover assets after the pilot process?  

Any equipment used will not be retained or considered property of the City or participating authorities. All products piloted as part of the Smart City Challenge will be returned at the end of the pilot and/or the partner is expected to remove them in a timely manner. 

How does the city plan to transition successful pilots to larger scale projects?  

We will have a robust evaluation process that is meant to assess whether the pilot is meeting the City’s strategic goals. If the City chooses to move forward with a larger contract, there is the potential for the opportunity to go through another competitive RFP process.  

Can you provide more information regarding the Smart City Initiative? 

More information here: http://www.longbeach.gov/smartcity/pilot-programs/2021-smart-city-challenge/ 

To learn more, proposers may contact Estefania Zavala, Digital Innovation Program Manager at estefania.zavala@longbeach.gov and Ryan Kurtzman, Smart City Program Manager at ryan.kurtzman@longbeach.gov.  

How many hours is the vendor expected to allocate on a weekly basis to the City during the pilot phase? 

The hourly expectations and schedule for the pilot project will be finalized during the project scoping process.  

Is there a stipend or any funds available for the vendor during the pilot period? 

No 

If a desired outcome is achieved before the end of the pilot phase can a contract be entered into early? 

Yes, after an appropriate and robust evaluation process. If the City chooses to move forward with a larger contract, there is the potential for the opportunity to go through another competitive RFP process. 

Who owns the Intellectual Property created? 

The solution is owned by the vendor and the City’s data is owned by the City.  

Is the City open to accepting solutions that include long-term partnerships with the vendor?   

The pilot project should be able to stand alone and should not depend on a long term partnership.  

If I own a company that usually consults on these types of challenges, should I apply for just one challenge or for every challenge if I think I have a solution? 

We would welcome the same proposer applying to multiple challenges. Please note, however, that if selected to provide a solution for multiple challenges, time constraints may be a challenge. 

Will the city permit applications from one company on multiple challenges? 

Yes. 

Challenge-Specific Questions

Does this mean that the existing meter at the service location would stay in place and the RSV would be retrofitted?   

We are open to both solutions that entirely exchange the existing meter and solutions that retrofit the RSV leaving the existing meter in place.   

If so, are all of the meters 7.5" in length?  And what pipe/meter sizes are being considered?  

3/4" meters are 7.5” in length. 1” meters are 10.75” in length. Service laterals are 1” in diameter. 

 Are the meters/RSVs inside set or pit set?  

Pit set. 

 Is leak and burst detection / protection desired?  

Not required but nice to have. 

Based on the description of our product, do you think it would make sense for us to bid?  

We would need to better understand the implications of implementation due to retrofitting with additional lay length and the end-to-end data communication and business process. 

 How many RSV locations are you considering, and what is your target deployment date?  

Estimate 500-1,500 locations. ASAP.  

Do you have any preference for remote communication?  The Aquana SV2 supports either LoRaWAN or Cellular backhaul.  

The meters currently communicate via a Sensus Flexnet network. Other communication methods will be considered if the overall pricing of the solution proposed is competitive to Sensus Flexnet compatible solutions.