Smart metering helps improve customer service

Sharjah Electricity & Water Authority (SEWA) is one of the leading utilities in UAE supplying and managing water and electricity to the residents of Sharjah. SEWA wanted to reduce the Non-Revenue Water in its existing water distribution infrastructure. Current meters were mechanical, therefore there was wear and tear over many years of use. In early 2019, SEWA took a milestone decision of opting for a complete smart metering solution to bring improvements in customer service and address the issue of Non-Revenue Water.

SEWA serves around 3,50,000 connections in the emirates of Sharjah. The decision of smart water metering was unprecedented, therefore SEWA selected the area of Maysaloon where over 2,500 connections were to be fitted with the new metering system. The cutting edge ultrasonic metering technology and availability of excellent service support locally made Kamstrup a clear winner for this project. SEWA chose to go with flowIQ® 2101, the smart ultrasonic water meter, along with the READy drive-by meter reading solution. The meters are integrated with an in-built wireless M-Bus communication system. With Kamstrup’s automatic meter reading solution, SEWA expects to improve operational efficiency and increase service levels towards their customers.

flowIQ® 2101 is an ultrasonic water meter optimized for residential use. Contrary to traditional mechanical meters, flowIQ® 2101 is a static meter protected against water ingress with no moving parts. Therefore, it maintains a high and stable accuracy throughout its lifetime of up to 16 years. 

flowIQ® 2101 has a very low error margin, an industry-leading accuracy and an optimized low start flow which ensures that even the smallest consumption is measured accurately. Intelligent alarms from the ultrasonic water meter lets you detect leaks and bursts or other irregularities such as tampering attempts or reverse flows quickly and effectively. This limits water loss as well as any collateral damage and enables you to provide a more proactive customer service.

READy is an effective and high-performing system for remote reading that can be used to collect data from smart meters and devices. You get fast and easy access to the consumption data needed to facilitate a fair and accurate billing as well as data that can be used to reduce optimize operations and improve customer services. The reading is handled intuitively via the READy App and takes place automatically while you drive. 

The meters are automatically located on a map on your smartphone. When you drive, the map automatically displays the nearby meters and shows, which are being read and which remain to be read. As you read the meters, you automatically gain access to both consumption data and any alarms or info codes regarding leakages and other irregularities in your distribution network.

• Name of the utility: Sharjah Electricity & Water Authority
• Number of metering points: 2,519
• Kamstrup solution: flowIQ® 2101 ultrasonic smart water meter with wireless M-Bus communication, READy drive-by solution
• Timeframe: 2019 onwards

The experience provided by the local Kamstrup team during the whole project was hassle-free. The utility is satisfied how their water metering challenges were addressed and together they could come up with a customized solution to match their needs. SEWA is awaiting to get started with the value they create in their daily operations and customer service once the meter reading via READy manager is in place. In the future, they would like to integrate the meter data received from the READy drive-by solution into their existing billing system.