Water — our most precious resource — is depleted globally by multiple activities. Common uses include drinking water, fire protection, agricultural/irrigation, manufacturing, food processing, etc. As our global population continues to increase, so does the need for fresh water supply. As a dynamic resource with many universal commitments, it is not surprising, with so many different global variables, that water scarcity is becoming a concern for both developed and developing countries. By Michelle Pawlowicz, marketing specialist, McCrometer
To overheated summer residents, they are a free trip to the waterpark. To utilities, they seem more like a flood of money spilling down the street. Any way you look at it, an illegally opened fire hydrant is a lot of lost water.
Just as different water utilities use different processes for turning raw source water into potable drinking water, so too do they take different routes to account for, and bill for, their output. Here is an overview of a cellular-based approach to collecting and leveraging data from water distribution operations that can achieve the greatest business advantage.
Easton Suburban Water Authority (ESWA) is in the business of providing water to its customers, not managing technology. One summer, Technology Manager Tim Ryan had enough with focusing valuable time and resources on the utility’s Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) IT network and servers.
Once a small town not far from Cleveland, the City of Avon is now one of the fastest growing communities in northeast Ohio.
I became interested in water and the Internet of Things (IoT) several years ago when I had a below groundwater leak at home that resulted in a large water bill. Since I live in the Silicon Valley, CA, the high tech capital of the world, I thought there should be a better way to track water usage so problems can be identified and solved sooner.
Though the field of water loss management is ever-growing and refining, a validated water audit to disaggregate volumes and values of all loss components remains the essential first step to reduce water loss in a way that is economically sustainable, both for your utility and your ratepayers. With extreme weather events, conservation rate structures, and regional population shifts changing the face of business as usual, it’s time to get with the program.
While the majority of household consumers believe that they deserve the full attention of a water system, from a revenue perspective this does not bear out. Though the average home faucet is undoubtedly valued by its drinking water provider, the reality is that the vast majority of drinking water revenue comes from heavy-use commercial and industrial operations.
Smart meters are no doubt the way of the future. The efficiencies they bring to water distribution make widespread implementation all but inevitable. However, as with any advanced technology (especially in the water industry), there are bound to be starts and stops along the way.
Pipeline maintenance and non-revenue water reduction get a boost from far-out resources.
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