AMI's Next Phase: Turning Meter Data Into Operational Value
By The Water Research Foundation
Advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) is no longer just a billing upgrade. Across the water sector, utilities are entering a second phase of adoption, which is focused less on deployment and more on extracting operational value from the data these systems generate.
A recent series of workshops convened by The Water Research Foundation (WRF) underscores how utilities are beginning to use AMI data to support conservation, improve system performance, and move toward more proactive operations. The takeaway is straightforward: most utilities now have the data; the challenge is putting it to work.
From Deployment To Utilization
Forward-thinking utilities began adopting AMI systems more than a decade ago, yet many utilities remain in the planning or pilot phases today. As a result, the industry spans the full spectrum, from early-stage deployment to fully mature, operational systems.
Survey participants in the WRF effort represent utilities serving roughly 2.1 million water customers, along with significant wastewater and electric accounts, highlighting the scale at which AMI data is now available.
Ownership models also vary. About 60% of surveyed utilities own their AMI networks, while 40% rely on service-based models. That mix reflects ongoing uncertainty around cost, control, and long-term system management. Regardless of the approach, AMI is becoming standard infrastructure.
The bigger issue now is utilization. Many utilities are still using AMI primarily for billing and basic customer alerts, leaving more advanced capabilities underdeveloped.
Three Areas Where Utilities Are Pushing Forward
The WRF workshops identified three practical areas where utilities are making measurable progress.
1. Customer Engagement and Conservation
AMI is improving how utilities communicate with customers, particularly around water use and conservation. Higher-resolution data, often hourly, allows utilities to provide more targeted insights, including leak detection and irrigation patterns.
However, adoption of customer portals remains uneven. Even in mature programs, participation can lag, limiting the effectiveness of these tools. Improving usability, integration, and messaging will be key to increasing engagement.
2. Borrowing From Other Sectors
Electric and gas utilities are further along in leveraging AMI data, offering practical models for water providers. Capabilities such as time-of-use pricing, outage management, and remote service control point to what is possible when metering data is operationalized.
Not all of these applications translate directly to water, but the underlying lesson does: value comes from integrating meter data into broader operational workflows, not treating it as a standalone system.
3. Operational Optimization
The most significant opportunity lies in using AMI data to improve system operations. Utilities are starting to apply it to non-revenue water reduction, demand forecasting, and distribution system management.
These are not theoretical use cases, but are already producing results where utilities have the internal processes and analytics capabilities to support them.
To showcase the findings of this project, WRF hosted a webcast in October 2025, which shared case studies from Fort Collins, Colorado, and Davis, California.
Fort Collins: Integrating Data Across The Organization
Fort Collins, Colorado, illustrates what a more mature AMI deployment looks like in practice. The utility has near-universal AMI coverage and collects hourly consumption data, integrating it with other datasets such as energy usage, property records, and permitting data.
This integration enables more precise analysis of demand patterns, including distinguishing between indoor and outdoor use and identifying leaks earlier. It also supports better forecasting and conservation planning.
AMI data played a key role during a 2020 drought response. The utility achieved 91% compliance with water restrictions and reduced demand by approximately 105 million gallons, in part due to improved visibility into customer usage.
The system is now used for a range of operational functions, including leak alerts, water loss auditing, demand modeling, and enforcement of conservation measures.
The next step is expanding how that data informs policy and customer-facing programs, including benchmarking and targeted conservation efforts.
Davis: Turning Data Into Customer Action
The City of Davis, California, highlights the customer side of AMI utilization. After deploying more than 17,000 AMI-enabled meters, the utility provides hourly usage data through its customer portal, enabling users to track consumption and set customized alerts.
Customer participation is relatively strong, with more than 9,700 users registered. More importantly, the data is driving behavior. As shared on the project webcast, Davis noted that leak alerts and continuous-use notifications have been linked to faster repairs and reduced water waste.
Davis complements the technology with clear guidance, helping customers interpret data and identify potential issues. The combination of data plus actionable information is what makes the system effective.
The utility is also using AMI infrastructure for system-level monitoring. Acoustic leak detection devices integrated into the network allow staff to identify leaks earlier and shift from reactive to proactive maintenance.
Persistent Gaps
Despite progress, several gaps remain.
- Customer engagement: Portal adoption is still inconsistent, limiting the reach of AMI-driven programs.
- Data integration: Many utilities still operate siloed systems, reducing the value of AMI data.
- Advanced analytics: While interest in machine learning is growing, most utilities are still in early stages of implementation.
These challenges are less about technology and more about internal capacity: data management, staffing, and process alignment.
What Comes Next
The WRF workshop series makes clear that AMI’s next phase will be incremental, not transformational overnight. Near-term priorities include improving system integration, refining customer tools, and expanding practical use cases.
Longer term, utilities are working toward more fully integrated “smart water networks,” where AMI data feeds directly into operational decision-making and predictive models.
That progression will require coordination across utilities, vendors, and researchers. No single stakeholder controls the outcome.
Bottom Line
AMI deployment is no longer the finish line — it is the starting point.
Utilities that treat AMI as a data platform, rather than a metering system, are already seeing operational and customer benefits. Those that do not risk leaving value on the table.
The difference is not in the technology, but rather in how effectively utilities integrate, analyze, and act on the data they already have.
Source:
Associated Project:
Project 5208, Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) Workshop: Better Use of the Systems and Data
The Water Research Foundation (WRF) is the leading research organization advancing the science of all water to meet the evolving needs of its subscribers and the water sector. WRF is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, educational organization that funds, manages, and publishes research on the technology, operation, and management of drinking water, wastewater, reuse, and stormwater systems — all in pursuit of ensuring water quality and improving water services to the public.
AI Usage Disclosure:
The outline for this article was created with assistance from Microsoft Copilot. The final content was reviewed, fact-checked, and edited by the author.