The Challenge
Flowery Branch, Georgia, is experiencing significant growth as suburban Atlanta continues to expand. The community's water and wastewater systems needed to be upgraded to support new residents and businesses while keeping costs manageable. The existing system, which relied on RACO Verbatim® units and traditional landlines, served 1,670 sewer-use customers and handled substantial daily wastewater treatment. However, the costs associated with installing and maintaining new phone lines were becoming unsustainable as more remote locations came online.
The Solution
Water/Wastewater Director Jimmy Dean, tasked with managing this growth while balancing budgets, turned to a trusted partner, RACO Manufacturing & Engineering. Having relied on RACO equipment for years, Dean engaged RACO to find a smarter way to monitor the growing network without breaking the budget. AlarmAgent was the clear choice, offering cloud-based alarms and monitoring at a lower cost than traditional landlines. Dean's team handled the simple installation, with AlarmAgent units fitting directly into the existing panels without modifications. "We count on AlarmAgent to tell us what is going on with the stations," Dean explains. "When we were dependent on phone lines, we went to check each station daily. Now that we receive a Watchdog Report first thing every morning from AlarmAgent, we only go out to the station three days per week, twice to check it and once for maintenance and cleanup."
The Results
By implementing AlarmAgent, Flowery Branch achieved significant cost savings and operational efficiencies. The community saved over $9,000 annually in phone line costs alone. The reduction in site visits from daily to three times a week also saved time, fuel, and reduced vehicle wear and tear. Additionally, the AlarmAgent system's remote monitoring capabilities allow the team to be alerted when issues arise, enabling timely interventions before problems escalate. Dean noted, "When my electric bill comes in and I notice it is unusually high, I can go back and look at my pump run times and see where the problems are — another savings to the county." With monthly monitoring costs per station at just $37 compared to $115 for landline-based monitoring, AlarmAgent has proven to be an innovative and cost-effective solution for Flowery Branch's growing needs.
