Cities across Europe are reliant on smart water meters to provide utilities with rapid insights into network usage. As water utilities evolve into customer focused operations, data is more critical than ever. For the water manager, the advantages of connected meters have been obvious: reliability of metering, ability to search for leaks, and improved network efficiency. But how do you convince your customers?

Here are the top eight reasons why smart meters are the future of water network efficiency together with some insightful comparative scenarios.

1) Monitor water consumption

Without: The residents do not know their consumption in detail or its evolution and must rely on their monthly or quarterly bills – which are often based on estimates.

With: Thanks to digital services such as ON’connect™ coach, residents can access detailed data on their daily water consumption and associated costs. They can compare their consumption over a weekly, monthly or annual period and estimate whether it is high or economical according to their profile (household size, location etc.). They can even compare their own water consumption with their neighbours and community.

2) Provide accurate bills

Without: The meter reading is undertaken physically at home, at most every three months, though often as rarely as once a year. The water bill is then estimated.

With: Thanks to smart meters, consumption indexes are transmitted every day, and households are guaranteed to be billed only for what they actually consume. They can connect online to monitor their consumption and pay their bills.

3) Detect and repair leaks quickly

Without: Often invisible, leaks on private property are difficult to detect quickly, resulting in water wastage. Only an abnormal increase in the water bill makes it possible to suspect a leak, which can take many months to notice.

With: The algorithms used by digital applications such as ON’connect™ coach differentiate three types of consumption: current uses, continuous flows (leaks) and other uses (such as gardening). When a presumption of leakage is proven, an SMS or email alert can warn the residents, so that they can repair it quickly, minimising damage to the environment and their hip pockets.

4) Save water and energy

Without: Customers do not know the details of their consumption and its impact on household budgets.

With: ON’connect™ coach offers practical and personalised tips to reduce water consumption, particularly hot water usage. A hot shower is the single mostly costly use of water in the average household, and has a direct impact on both energy consumption and water consumption. Shorter showers means lower bills for both water and energy.

5) Reduces environmental impact

With: Without detailed consumption data, it’s difficult for customers to reduce their daily consumption and help preserve our natural water resources.

Without: From changing equipment to handy tips, it’s now easier for all residents to help preserve our water resources and reduce their carbon footprint. In fact, hot water represents 60 per cent of water consumption within the household (daily washing, dishes, cleaning, etc.).

6) Improve comfort, safety and health

Without: Manual metering has some limitations and does not provide additional services that can improve health and wellbeing.

With: Beyond measuring water consumption, the use of smart metering has shown real effectiveness in detecting the first signs of loss of autonomy in senior citizens. Usage changes may indicate a health-related incident in elderly people with disabilities or living independently.

To get in touch with a SUEZ expert in Australia about a smart metering solution for your utility, visit: https://discover.suez.com.au/suez_smart_water

Watch the On Demand recording of the Smart Solutions webinar which was held on September 28.

SUEZ expert speakers Mateu Crespi-Alemany, Director of Operations, Smart Solutions, France and Sean Cohen, Senior Manager, Smart Water, SUEZ Australia present how Smart Metering Solutions can make your utility more custom-centric

WATCH NOW: https://suezanz.com/3Bk0pnp

This partner content is brought to you by SUEZ. For more information, visit suez.com.au.