Sutton and East Surrey Water plc
Working to deliver
Presentation to SBWWI Leakage & Metering Conference
Networks Manager – Jeremy Heath
Chairman of the Water UK Revenue Metering Group
Why are water companies interested in Smart Metering?
1. We have a meter installation programme – not simply replacement
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5. We need to increase our level of customer servicequency
6. Consumers will expect that we provide this level of information
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What are the opportunities?
Smart metering would allow us better understanding of where water is going
40% of properties metered does not equal 40% of metered consumption
Timely identification of supply pipe leakage
Enhanced information for Table 10 calculations
Commercial properties would be able to make decisions about their water use
Large domestic users, like sprinklers using water at 3am
12 Ml/day jump = 500 m3/hr = 500 sprinklers per night = 0.5% of Customers
Smart metering would allow us to influence and modify consumer behavior
Tariffs for sprinklers users, incentivising them to use water at certain times
Commercial properties using water at off peak times
Better information in the house would drive water efficiency and reduce leakage
Smart metering would allow us to communicate with our consumers
Instead of six monthly bills we could bill accurately more frequently
New communication lines would be available
Opportunity to sell additional services to consumers
What are the challenges?
How do we talk to the meter?
Most meters are buried at the boundary under a metal cover
Zigbee 2.4 (HAN frequency) has very poor propagation outside and through walls
Zigbee 868 (alternate frequency) is still really in development
Trials in Anglian have shown that 868 struggles to communicate
Possibility of using Long Range Radio, particularly in the North of England
Alternate third party units to pull the signal back into the property for the HAN
How do we communicate with the consumer?
It is unlikely that the In-House Display Units for the Energy Rollout will show water
How do we ensure units that do display water don’t end up in the drawer?
Is an in-house display unit the best way to communicate with a consumer?
How do we manage all of the data?
15 minutes data from 100,000 customers = 3.5 Trillion data points / year
Consumers will expect us to react to the information we have
What’s the good news?
The Water Industry can use new and developing technologies
Weightless protocol
TV Whitespace
Readings via the internet
Big Data and outsourcing processing power
Innovative in-house displays
Not limited to UK based solutions
Multiple Trials going on at the same time
Different water companies are all trying different methodologies
We are living in interesting times…