Eliminate non-revenue water
How smart metering can help fight water loss
Non-revenue water (NRW) is a global problem and an average of 23% of the drinking water is lost in EU distribution networks.
We believe that smart metering is an important tool for eliminating non-revenue water. You get access to the right knowledge at the right time so that you can take action where and when it is needed. Because non-revenue water is not just something we talk about. We develop solutions that help utilities reduce their water loss
Preventing water loss
Reducing and preventing non-revenue water and water loss becomes so much easier and so much more efficient when you have access to the right information at the right time.
Watch our movie and learn how smart metering can be an effective tool in the fight to beat the leak and prevent water loss.
What is non-revenue water?
Non-revenue water is the difference between produced water and billed water. In a situation where water is becoming increasingly scarce in many areas while the consumption is increasing, NRW is a very real challenge faced by the majority of water utilities as a consequence of increased urbanisation, higher demand, increased prices and ageing distribution networks. It is water that is lost as a result of bursts due to pressure surges, inaccurate meter readings, leaks or burst resulting from a high pressure, ageing infrastructure, illegal connections to the network, theft, etc.
Different kinds of water loss and how to reduce them
Inaccurate mechanical meters
A mechanical meter is often less accurate and has a higher start flow than an ultrasonic meter just as its accuracy diminishes over time. Therefore, more water is consumed but not billed.
Contrary to a mechanical meter, an ultrasonic meter has no moving parts and it maintains its pinpoint accuracy throughout its lifetime. Installing ultrasonic meters will therefore limit the unbilled and unmetered consumption.
Read more about transitioning from mechanical to ultrasonic meters and what benefits you can expect.
Incorrect manual meter readings
Reading your meters manually is both time consuming and error-prone. It lowers your data quality and makes it more difficult for you to work with Non-Revenue Water.
Remote reading allows you to eliminate misreadings, time consuming follow-ups and estimated calculations. As you get data more often, you can increase the interval of your water balance from yearly to monthly or even daily. This lets you evaluate your improvements and discover problems immediately and not just once a year!
Unmetered water use
Different kinds of Non-Revenue Water need to be dealt with in different ways. With smart metering, you can distinguish between real losses (leakages) and apparent losses (metering inaccuracies and unmetered consumption) pr. district in your supply area. Then you can easily eliminate the unmetered water use at for example construction sites.
Leakages
Locate leaks when they occur inside a home and target your leakage detection with detailed information about the water loss in your individual districts.
Even though leaks after the meter aren’t strictly Non-Revenue Water, it is still water loss. The smart meter automatically sends out an alarm in case of a leak or a burst in the home to help you increase your customer service and limit the water loss.
Theft
Smart meters transmit intelligent alarms that let you discover attempts of and other tampering irregularities quickly and efficiently.
If you read your meters remotely, you either get the information when an alarm is triggered or as soon as you read your meters via drive by.
Download whitepaper: Reduce non-revenue water
A high volume of non-revenue water does not just mean lost revenue and higher operational costs for the utility, it can also lead to increased costs in relation to leakage repairs, increased energy costs, etc. Luckily, the development of smart meters and smart metering helps to provide greater transparency in the water distribution. This can create a full overview of the distribution network and its condition.
Highlights to read in the whitepaper:
- Mapping the utilisation of your water resources
- Non-revenue water calculation
- Causes of non-revenue water
Get your water loss under control
flowIQ® 2200 Water | Meters
Approved with dynamic range up to R1600
flowIQ® 3200 Water | Meters
Pinpoint accuracy across flow range
Minimized water loss with district meter data
MULTICAL® 21 Water | Meters
Superior stability in the entire dynamic range
Leak Detector Water | Analytics
Reduce your amount of non-revenue water