The difference between this and the "Smart Grid" is that this is a SINGLE point control.
I can see where that since they know the maximum usage you have per day / month / minute that if they detect a twice normal amount being used they could then shut off the flow of water. They would also send an alert to you (this would of course mean that you MUST have a way to contact the cusomter via email / phone / pager / smart phone method to let them know that the water has been shut off) and then go from there.
If it is at the meter they fix, if it is the homeowner problem at least it saved them from a flooded house or other possible problems (landslides due water saturation) etc. A person with the water cut off can work around the problems it causes.
They can then send another msg when the problem is fixed (if on their end).
This bit of technology adds value and people can SEE the value in it.
In Portland someone had their sprinkler system pipes break, they never noticed the added water usage, it saturated the hillside (like over a week) and two houses went down. Something like this would have alerted the owners as to double water usage and the company could have cut it off while the owners went to find the problem.
The lawsuits are still going on (after two years).
U.S. wireless carrier Sprint and Neptune Technology Group announced on Monday a partnership to improve automated metering infrastructure, or AMI, for water systems.
The deal marries Sprint’s wireless and machine-to-machine (”M2M”) experience with Neptune’s 120 years of utility expertise to help utility companies (and municipalities, and even application developers) better collect consumption and diagnostic data from customers.
It’s much like a smarter electrical grid, but water is the commodity.
Specifically, the partnership adds a 3G network communications backhaul to Neptune’s ARB FixedBase automated metering infrastructure and reading systems, allowing them a new way to communicate the data they aim to collect.
The use of an “always-on” broadband wireless network allows the operator to monitor hundreds of thousands of digital water meters, frequently, in real time. Through this centralized management structure the operator can quickly detect and localize leaks, allowing them to quickly send out a maintenance crew, notify customers and plan for new demand constraints.
When there’s no emergency, the system allows the operator to provide customers with personal water usage data.
With data, utilities and municipalities can bill customers without estimating (eliminating surprises on both sides of the bill) and more efficiently deploy maintenance workers. Since time is money, operators hope that the system results in savings over the long term.
Photo: Neptune’s T-10 water meter. (Neptune)
