Advantages and possibilities
A digital water meter offers quite a few advantages over an analog or mechanical counter. The device sends or receives data by itself and that means less hassle or work for the individual customer. For example when a customer moves house or at the time of his annual statement for which he no longer needs to pass on the meter reading himself.
It is not in scope of the current pilot project, but once in use, the digital water meter provides the possibility to each customer to monitor the water consumption in real time and gain insight into his consumption pattern. This via an app or via the customer portal MyFARYS.
Furthermore, the feasibility to provide relevant notifications or alarms for customers is being investigated. For example, when an abnormal consumption pattern is detected, such as an acute leak or a persistent 'ghost' consumption. In this way, losses can be limited as well as the risk of possible major damage.
The technology also opens up new possibilities for drinking water companies. The administration around meter readings and billing will be streamlined and data quality strengthened.
The frequent flow of information will also enable the water companies to register leakage losses on branch lines and also offers possibilities for detecting local leakage losses in their network. And this will benefit network efficiency.
Furthermore, information can also be used to bolster quality assurance within the distribution networks. This in the first place through automatic alerts of any backflow of water from a private indoor installation to the public network, but also on the basis of temperature records.
Finally, the drinking water companies are also investigating other possibilities in the context of optimizations, insights and applications that the (communication) technology used can offer for all stakeholders and not necessarily only for drinking water distribution.