No, we're not talking about water bending superpowers...
The earth is a floating rock drifting across space, with water covering about 70% of its surface area. With about 95% of its inhabitants concentrated on just 10% of the land, it's safe to assume access to water wouldn't be a problem... Well, it's a huge problem. with global warming and climate change issues disrupting natural water cycles, it seems to be getting worse.
Nigeria, a country so rich in water resources that many of its 36 states are named after rivers., meanwhile, only 19% of the country's population have access to safe drinking water.
How can we solve this problem?
If we can effectively monitor and manage consumption, waste, distribution, and supply; we'll take a huge step towards solving this problem. Water distribution is a major cause of disputes between providers and consumers. Many households in cities and even urban areas have dug boreholes to provide water for themselves. This has been going on for decades. The issue exists largely because consumers are unable to depend on general supply, and both providers and consumers are unable to measure the quantity of water they use or need.
Water conservation and environmentally friendly technologies are becoming more important, especially in areas where access to water is expensive, restricted or limited. That's where water metering comes in.
What is water metering?
Water metering is the practice of measuring water use. Water meters are the devices that track how much water is used by residential and commercial building units that are connected to a public water system. Mechanical Water Meters require manual processes and physical checks which can be rather inefficient. How then do we fix these inefficiencies? we make them SMART!😉
What then is Smart Water Metering?
Smart water meters are devices that accurately measure and communicate water usage from the consumer to the provider, and send that information to a central dashboard or even your phone. This makes water management and billing much easier and more accurate. Unlike mechanical water meters, smart meters track water usage through technology such as ultrasonic readings that provide more accurate measurements.
IoT Africa, in partnership with Kamstrup, are not only deploying a state of the art IoT Connectivity across Nigeria but also providing next-generation Smart Water Meters to solve national water problems. Its first-of-its-kind ultrasonic concentric water meter is one of the major players in the global water management industry. Some of Kamstrup's major features are Pinpoint accuracy over the entire lifetime of 16 years, It also has intelligent alerts that increase water efficiency and Integrated radio communication for remote reading.
Why Smart Water Metering is important?
With most scarce commodities like electricity and gas, you have to pay per use. People have the assumption that water is free and comes from the sea and sky. They have a point, however processing and providing clean water requires costs; costs of processing, filtering, distribution, etc. Water has to be properly managed.
Water Consumers and providers require more water management devices. The traditional water meters just don't cut it anymore. With smart water metering technology, water usage is tracked, monitored, and billed much more efficiently.
From sustainability and distribution concerns to the need for more accurate measurement and billing, smart water meters are improving lives around the world especially in developing countries like Nigeria.
Smart water meters make it easier for cities all over the world to spot leaks and correctly measure water. Furthermore, these smart devices serve homeowners, sites, agriculture fields, and businesses by allowing them to keep a closer eye on their water usage and assure proper invoicing.
Major Benefits of Water Metering:
1. Identify Consumption Inefficiencies: Smart meters identify consumption patterns and inefficiencies. Consumers can use these smart meters to keep track of their daily water consumption in terms of quantity and timing.
2. Dynamic Water Billing: Smart water meters allow water distributors and consumers to communicate with each other in a two-way manner. A water utility company/organization can track the use of individual homes connected to its network in real time. IT systems can accurately calculate a house's monthly water cost based on how much water it consumes on a daily basis.
3. Less Non-Revenue Water: This refers to water that does not reach consumers or is not recorded by their meters due to inefficiency. Non-revenue water is caused by leaks, theft, and other factors. Water firms can use Smart Water Meters to monitor their water distribution network and verify that the amount of water distributed matches the amount of water consumed.
4. Greater Visibility : Water utilities and suppliers generally lack clear transparency in their water conservation attempts. Smart water meters with it's two-way interaction help water distributors to gain clear visibility into the consumption patterns of their end consumers, and the results of their conservation programs.
5. Rationing Water Consumption: Modern-day IoT water flow meters are now embedded with a valve that can be controlled remotely. This valve enables its users to regulate the flow of water and manage their water consumption in order to optimize their operational processes while saving costs. This feature is fantastic for factories and plants.
With all the above listed, it’s so important to have visibility into your home/facility’s water usage. If you don’t have a water meter yet, you might not notice a leak until your water bill arrives, and during that time you could be wasting thousands of gallons of water per day. It's time to invest in water metering.
About IoT: IoT Africa Networks Limited is the exclusive Sigfox operator in Nigeria and we are responsible for rolling out the first IoT nationwide network in Nigeria. The IoT LPWAN (Low Power Wide Area Network), powered by IoT Africa Networks Ltd and Sigfox, is a game-changing digital technology in Nigeria.
About Tranter IT: Tranter IT Infrastructure Services Limited (Tranter IT) is an ICT and Internet of Things Solutions company that provides unified technology solutions to business problems. The company is the exclusive distributor of many IoT Connected devices in Nigeria. Tranter IT was founded in 2004 and has over 340 highly skilled employees, including about 280 ICT and IoT engineers.
About Kamstrup: Kamstrup is world-leading manufacturer of system solutions for smart energy and water metering.
For more information, please visit IoT Africa’s website https://www.iotafricanetworks.com/ .
T: 07083557478, 07085801253
Email: enquiries@iotafricanetworks.com, enquiries@tranter-it.com
Website: www.iotafricanetworks.com, www.tranter-it.com