What do smart water meters do to help track down leaks that can't be done with regular meters? Are they saying leaks are time-of-day sensitive? Sounds more like they want to know if you're watering your lawn in the middle of the day.
Water isn't like electricity. Cities have only a fixed supply of it per year; they can't make more like electricity so there's no infrastructure costs when demand goes up. You just run out.
Smart water meters are set to proliferate as the world struggles with water shortages and efficient delivery, according to Pike Research.
According to Pike Research, the global installed base of smart and smart-enabled water meters will surge to 31.8 million by 2016, up from 5.2 million in 2009. Smart water meters will ultimately account for 31 percent of all new water meter shipments.
Why the focus on smart meters? Pike Research notes a few moving parts:
- Water shortages will affect half the world’s population by 2030.
- In the U.S., 36 states will see water shortages by 2013.
- Utilities will also be looking to improve efficiency and cut down so-called non-revenue water—the difference between pumped, treated and supplied water and what actually gets to the end customer.
- Emerging markets also need to become more efficient half of treated water falls into the non-revenue category due to leaks, theft and poor measurement.
Also: Water, water…how many drops do YOU waste?
While these smart water meters are expected to swell, there are hurdles. For starters, customers aren’t used to frequent water metering and billing. And then networking intelligence needs to be installed in the water systems—much like the investment going on in smart electric grids. And finally, the water industry has 52,000 suppliers in the U.S. In other words, there’s a herding cats issue.
More reading on the subject:
- NYT: Smart water meters struggle for foothold
- NYC to Begin Tracking Water Use in Real Time With Wireless Meters
- San Francisco Water Meters to Detect Leaks, Help Customers Track Usage
- How Coca-Cola is reducing its water consumption
- Ensuring that there’s water, water everywhere
- Next wave in corporate disclosure: Water usage stats
