A lot is presently happening in the smart waterindustry particularly with utilities looking to move ahead. Smart metering and drive-by/walk-by systems got the door for water utilities to uncover fresh insights about how to optimize their operations. The AMR (automatic meter reading) systems brought a new wave of intelligence and convenience when they were initially adopted.
Currently, several water utilities are looking for next-level data granularity that could be delivered only via AMI (advanced metering infrastructure). The challenge is how to cost-effectively and conveniently transition to AMI from AMR. But, why should utilities even consider the transition, and what should they understand along the way? This article offers some reasons.
- More data more often
AMI offers a more comprehensive data collection on an hourly basis with sensors for leak management, pressure, flow, level, as well as shut off capabilities. Furthermore, it supports a much better customer experience for utilities via solutions like client portal which, enables end clients to monitor their usage on an everyday basis.
- Manual intervention
AMR systems demand manual labour, increased exposure to potential injuries, as well as vehicle costs. Dissimilar to AMR, AMI does not require that any personnel should collect data. Rather, the system gets all necessary data transmitted to the utility directly in a system of two-way communication. This significantly improves accuracy as well as the availability and access to consumption data. This feature is so crucial that there is no answer to the ‘what is smart water’ question that will be complete if it excludes it.
- Integration of business processes
A quality AMI solution enables the integration of the all-round business processes of any utility, into just one platform. This data then offers the much-needed information to several other varying areas within the utility, including planning, billing, wastewater, engineering, customer service, water distribution, and so much more.
- Asset management
Typically, water systems are underground, thus making it challenging for utilities to know their distribution system’s condition. But if they had insights into how varying parts of their distribution system are doing, like AMI is capable of providing, it will help them to better allocate their resources by having the life of their capital assets significantly extended.
- Evolution
AMI systems and solutions keep evolving. One of the most significant advancements could be time-synchronization. This enables AMI systems to fundamentally take a snapshot of the distribution system of a water utility at a given point in time, thus providing a complete consumption image. This greatly enables water managers to look closely at both inflows as well as outflows, for instance, and to also carry out a comparative analysis on their utility’s distribution system. From the analysis, they can see when water happens to be flowing and wherever there might be any stresses on the distribution system
In conclusion, when it comes to smart water systems and the adoption of AMI, planning is a crucial aspect to a successful deployment of smart metering operations. When trying to determine the metering system to use in your utility, factor where you presently are, where you intend going, and how you will get there, into any decision you eventually make.
