Providence Water Supply Board Acts Decisively for Proactive Water Conservation

LIBERTY LAKE, Wash. — March 3, 2010 — Itron Inc. (NASDAQ: ITRI) announced today that Providence Water Supply Board (PWSB), which serves approximately 73,000 retail Rhode Island customers, is deploying an advanced leak detection system from Itron. With over 870 miles of water distribution lines, PWSB will be able to proactively monitor its system for leaks with MLOG acoustic leak detection technology from Itron.

PWSB will deploy more than 8,400 MLOG sensors in early March, starting in North Providence and expanding into the remainder of its retail territory. PWSB received partial funding for the project from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act for its focus on water infrastructure and conservation. Progressive water utilities like PWSB are deploying advanced leak detection solutions to reduce water losses, lower associated pumping and treatment costs and prevent major leak events.

“Providence Water is aggressively working on improving the integrity of our water delivery system because it is good business,” said Mark Ceseretti, PWSB Project Manager. “Itron’s MLOG system is the right solution to improve our system’s integrity by locating leaks and actively reducing water losses. We are asking our customers to be good water stewards; we need to lead by example.”

Situated in New England, where the water supply is currently abundant, PWSB nonetheless recognizes the importance of water conservation. Since the early ‘90s, PWSB has focused on educating customers on their consumption and on managing their distribution system infrastructure. PWSB’s distribution system is more than 100 years old and benefits from a program of ongoing infrastructure improvements to ensure the reliable delivery of clean drinking water to its customers.

MLOG sensors, capable of hearing a pinhole leak, transmit leak data to a drive-by collector. The leak locations are identified through an online software application, which are then investigated by PWSB. This allows the utility to proactively monitor their distribution system and mitigate costly water leaks.

“Providence Water has been a long-time Itron automated meter reading customer and we are pleased to present them with yet another industry-leading solution to help further strengthen their operations,” said Lou Gust, vice president of water sales and marketing for Itron. “We are confident that the advanced leak detection capabilities of MLOG will help PWSB to effectively manage its infrastructure and meet its conservation objectives.”