Abandoning what are sometimes referred to as “dumb" mechanisms for measuring water flow, many water utilities around the world are upgrading to smart water meters. Although they cost more than their old-style counterparts and complicate life for utility personnel, smart meters and the technologies associated with them offer the advantages of automation, as well as a valuable real-time view of how water-distribution systems are functioning. The benefits can include significant water savings, lower operating costs and improved customer service.

One primary reason for buying a smart water meter is that it automates the meter-reading process, eliminating human error, and eliminates the need to employ meter-reading personnel. The result is improved accuracy and lower labor costs, according to Michael Markides, associate director for smart utilities infrastructure at IHS.

In addition, the solid-state technology in some smart water meters minimizes maintenance over the life of the meter because there are no moving parts. The lack of mechanical components also means measurement accuracy is not adversely affected if the meter is exposed to corrosive or sandy water conditions, which are common in many areas of the U.S., says John Parks, director of new business development for Neptune Technology Group Inc., a water meter manufacturer.

AMI Networks

Smart water meters are part of what is known as advanced metering infrastructure (AMI), which includes data-management systems and networks that allow two-way communication between utilities and customers. As a result, smart water meters must be able to send and receive data via an AMI network. To make this possible, Parks says, some meters have a radio inside the encoder register to allow wireless communication.

Once the physical meters are in place, a smart water network can be created. According to Markides, this is similar to a smart electric grid in that it employs electronics, communications and software to facilitate real-time management of a distribution system in order to improve efficiency, reliability and customer service. While utilities can create smart water networks with smart meters alone, Markides says that more capable networks come with additional software and sensors.

For example, analytics software turns the large amounts of data gathered by smart water network technology into actionable intelligence that helps utilities optimize a variety of software to analyze data in order to detect leaks at the customer’s end of the network.

Leak Detection

Leak detection is made easier by the high-resolution data that comes from smart meters. Parks says that if it takes 10-50 gallons of flow to advance a meter's register odometer (which is often the case with old-style mechanical meters), small amounts of water loss can go unnoticed. That's not the case with smart meters, which can produce eight-digit water-flow readings with 0.1 gallon resolution.

“We see that as being very attractive to markets like California and Texas that have water-conservation issues," Parks says. “Smart meters will help them save water that is currently going down the drain."

Smart meters also can help utilities to manage the pressure in their water-distribution systems. Lower system pressure is easier on pipes, lengthening their lives and minimizing leaks and related repairs. So the goal should be to maintain just enough pressure in the system to ensure good service to customers, says Jean-Paul Piques, vice president of marketing for the water business line at Itron Inc., a water meter manufacturer.

Conventional pressure testing is done by a field team, which checks different points in the network using portable testing devices. “But if you have smart meters at the end of the line, you can get that information automatically and in real time. Markides says. “You don't need that field team anymore, which reduces labor costs."

Billion-dollar Market

Global revenues from the sale of two-way smart water meters will exceed $1 billion in 2019. Source: IHSGlobal revenues from the sale of two-way smart water meters will exceed $1 billion in 2019. Source: IHS Markides expects that global revenues from the sale of two-way smart water meters will surpass the $1 billion mark in 2019, up from about $575 million in 2013. By 2020, smart meters will account for about 30% of total water meter revenue, compared to 18% in 2013. (These findings are available in the report entitled, “Smart Water Meter Intelligence Service,” from the Power & Energy service of IHS Technology.)

If these projections are correct, it means that by the end of the decade, about 70% of the water meters purchased around the world will still either be basic mechanical meters or meters capable of only one-way data communication.

North America continues to be the leading adopter of two-way water meters used in AMI networks, but stronger growth is occurring in Europe, IHS says. France is the fastest-expanding market of all major countries worldwide, with smart meter penetration approaching 50%. Following France in Europe are the U.K., Ireland and Germany—all countries experiencing what IHS says is a “rapid transition” to adopting two-way smart water meters.

Nevertheless, why will so many water meters users continue to opt for inferior technology? There are a number of reasons, but the main one is budget constraints. Although they offer long-term cost savings, smart water meters are more expensive than their less capable counterparts, Parks says.

In addition, utilities can be put off by the flood of data generated by smart meters. To address this, Neptune provides a range of canned reports. These software-created reports are automatically populated by data from the company's smart meters and data-collection technologies. The reports are intended to help utilities to spot problems in their water-distribution systems without analyzing the data themselves.

Managed Service Model

As many utilities lack the ability to effectively use smart meter technology, some vendors are embracing a “managed services" model. This allows the meter vendors themselves to provide the necessary technical expertise and also lower customers' capital expenditures by handling many smart water network operations themselves, Markides says.

Managed services come in many forms. In one possible scenario, a utility would buy and install smart meters from a certain vendor but outsource handling of the meter data to the vendor. The data would go to a data center owned by the vendor, who would look at the analytics output and generate reports for the utility.

Managed services can help bring hundreds of thousands of small utilities lacking sophisticated IT operations into the “techno-intensive world" of smart water networks, says Piques. But interest in managed services isn't limited to small utilities. “Even very large utilities who invested in their own technology over the last 10 years are now moving away from that," he says. “They are realizing that managing a proprietary network is a nightmare."

Itron currently provides managed services for 120 water customers. “We have been doing this for over a year now, and it's growing very fast," Piques says.

Besides enhancing its managed services offerings, the company is developing additional sensing technologies to embed into its smart meters. But because these are products with long lifetimes, the technology has to last in the field for a long time and under a range of conditions, Piques says. “This is making the development of sensors, especially water quality sensors, quite a challenge—not just for Itron, I think, but for everybody."

Besides new offerings from vendors, Parks says that advanced water-industry technology will benefit from two major and related trends. “Water scarcity and the rising cost of water will drive the industry to implement smart water meters and smart water networks," he says.