For electricity and gas utilities, the adoption of smart meters and advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) has been largely driven by regulatory efforts to enable a carbon-free energy system, to support renewable energy load growth, and to enable a smarter energy infrastructure, as well as utilities’ internal efforts to provide better customer service while at the same time increasing operational efficiency.
While the water utility industry has not faced the same kinds of regulatory pressures, the same motivation to provide better customer service and increase operational efficiency has been a leading driving force in leading water utilities’ deployment of smart meters and related technology. Through the deployment of smart meters, water utilities are extending their reach all the way from generation to the end customer. With smart water grids, we can now understand in detail how each piece of the network is stressed, connected and contributing to overall performance.
Smart Metering: extending the horizon of Network Monitoring
This end to end transparency is a unique opportunity for water utilities, as droughts and aging infrastructure issues put increased pressure on them around the globe. However, while this data provides many benefits, it is not a trivial technology exercise to deliver this new capability from an IT perspective, and certainly not one that water utilities are used to encountering. As a consequence of smart meter deployments, water utilities are faced with managing many times more information than before, and it is this volume of data that underscores the need for Big Data Advanced Analytical capabilities.
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