Always-on, connected water metering - fast becoming a no-brainer
06/06/2022
Water is scarce. I know it's an odd statement given we have 133 days of rain in Britain every year but its true. Maybe I should be more specific, the type and quality of water we need for our day-to-day lives is scarce. It costs money to capture water, process it and stop it from being lost and polluted.
With a backdrop of a rapidly increasing population and dramatic climate change, the scale of the external challenges facing water companies is unprecedented. From the plan to half leakage levels by 2050 set out in the Leakage Routemap, to Defra's calls for a 20% reduction in water usage per person by 2037, the industry is facing ambitious targets to tackle water scarcity head on. Now, on top of that, there are heightened concerns about the cost of living which mean we need to make smart economic choices.
As I take on the role of CEO, I'm committed to continuing Arqiva's work towards securing the long-term resilience of the UK's water networks.
As we look towards PR24 and AMP8, Ofwat has called for long-term plans which are both resilient and adaptable. Metering water usage unlocks clear benefits for customers, water companies and society at large and with any decisions made now effectively locking water companies into a 15-year path, they must choose an approach that is not only future-proof but also builds flexibility.
...always-on, connected water metering specifically Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) - could deliver up to £2.2bn in net benefit across England and Wales.
Data-driven benefits of AMI meters
Arqiva's purpose is enabling a switched-on world to flow . That's why we help our customers, the water companies, to understand what is continuously being consumed in the home and where it is being lost. Metering water usage can inform the customer and encourages consumption reduction, improves the accuracy and fairness of bills, helps detect leaks and enables broader societal and service-related benefits. But not all smart metering technologies are made equal, the evidence for which is set out in new research commissioned by Arqiva from Artesia and Frontier Economics which was published recently. If water companies invest and implement with the right level of ambition, always-on, connected water metering specifically Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) - could deliver up to £2.2bn in net benefit across England and Wales. That's in comparison to the up to £0.4bn achievable through the use of drive-by' AMR meters, enabled by either hand-held or vehicle-mounted readers. Always-on connected meters can not only deliver greater benefits but deliver them faster.
The key differentiator is the continuous, valuable, granular data that AMI technology provides. Compared with infrequent drive-by AMR meter readings, water companies can build more complete and frequent datasets by utilising always-on connected meters. In turn, this can reduce water consumption, lower carbon emissions and improve the efficiency in addressing leaks.
Cutting down customer costs
On top of the direct cost benefits, having more detailed data from always-on connected meters also opens up a broader set of potential benefits than you'd receive with drive-by meters. This allows companies to directly enhance the customer experience and drive down bills.
While meter data can improve billing accuracy and network monitoring, the insights it offers can also advance customer engagement. Armed with a clear understanding of their customers' water consumption habits, providers can communicate ways to change their behaviour for the better. Thames Water provides a compelling example of this. Driven by its data collection, the provider was able to better target its water efficiency audits and support vulnerable customers. Through education on water usage, customers saw bill reductions of 8%-17%.
Frequent and accurate data on water usage, giving better visibility over consumption patterns, would also enable the ability to introduce future flexible tariff options around time-of-use, peak demand and drought resilience. And what's more, with consumers battling against the spike in the cost of living, a comprehensive always-on water metering programme using AMI has shown the total costs incurred by water companies would be reduced and could benefit customers in the form of lower bills.
Time is running out
There's a clear social and economic case for the deployment of AMI technology to ensure economic and societal challenges around water resources are met.
But providers must act now. Under the five-year planning cycle, a delay at this stage could push the rollout of AMI to the mid-2030s for some companies impacting their ability to achieve leakage, sustainability and consumption reduction targets. To truly realise the benefits of smart water metering and tackle water scarcity, AMI technology and always-on, connected meters must be a core component of the PR24 and AMP8 period.
Published
06/06/2022
Author
Shuja Khan, CEO
LINK: | https://www.arqiva.com/news-views/views/always-on-connected-water-mete... |
See more stories from arqiva |
More from Argiva
02/04/2024
New research: the risks and opportunities around smart water metering investments
Lower functionality AMI solutions, such as those based on LoRaWAN and NB-IoT tec...
02/04/2024
New research: achieving the optimal smart water metering solution
Water companies contemplating their AMP8 smart water metering programmes could find that the optimal solution is delivered by combining their primary connectivi...
11/03/2024
Living with less: planning for a water-scarce future
Arqiva CEO, Shuja Khan, opens the Waterwise Conference 2024 It is fantastic to be here again for the Waterwise conference. And it has been another great year...
28/02/2024
Arqiva joins British Water
Arqivas smart water metering network supports the largest rollouts in the UK 28 February 2024, UK, Winchester, Hampshire: Leading UK communications infrastruct...
31/01/2024
Britains Healthiest Workplace
Arqiva comes top in large business (1,000+) category in annual award The annual Vitality Britain's Healthiest Workplace study has been developed by next ge...
22/01/2024
Futureproofing sports broadcasting in 2024
2024 is set to be a pivotal 12 months for the sports broadcast industry, with the 2024 Olympics and UEFA Euros both on the horizon. With a forecast global telev...
19/12/2023
West Belfast MP tours Divis Transmitters
Paul Maskey MP sends signal of support for broadcast services The MP for West Belfast, Paul Maskey, has endorsed the importance of local TV and radio services ...
05/12/2023
Arqiva and Clancy form new partnership to deliver end-to-end smart water metering programmes
Combined offer will provide water companies with bespoke and fully-managed integ...
07/11/2023
Arqiva awarded extension of smart water meter network with Anglian Water
Arqiva will deliver an additional 300,000 meters on its network for Anglian Water between now and 2025 07 November, 2023, UK, London: Arqiva, a leading global ...
20/10/2023
The indisputable benefits of smart water metering
Deployed in a considered manner, smart water metering is a no-regret investment for the water industry Like others, I was eagerly anticipating the publication ...
12/09/2023
Local MPs praise Project Restore on visit to Bilsdale
MPs see 300m mast close up for first time Arqivas Chief of Operations, Adrian Twyning, recently hosted local MPs Kevin Hollinrake and Jill Mortimer at our Bils...
06/09/2023
End of an era at Emley Moor
After five years in service the temporary mast at Emley is dismantled Work has begun on the dismantling of the temporary Emley Moor transmitter. Following the...
01/09/2023
Capacity available for new national radio station
Arqiva is inviting bids for one DAB+ channel at 24kbps Sound Digital reaches 83% of the UK population via a network of DAB transmitters in England, Northern Ir...
18/08/2023
Bringing a Flexible Approach to Smart Water Networks at scale
Tackling the challenges faced by the water industry with a blend of technology solutions and experience The UK's water industry has been in sharp focus in ...
02/08/2023
Yorkshire Day at Emley Moor
BBC Radio Leeds visited the Arqiva tower in pursuit of the countys extremes. 02 August 2023 - Arqiva welcomed Rima Ahmed, BBC Radio Leeds breakfast presenter, ...
29/06/2023
Arqiva appoints Nicola Phillips as Chief Legal Officer
Nicola's appointment is effective from 01 July and she will sit on the Arqiva Executive Committee (Exco) reporting to CEO Shuja Khan. 29 June, 2023, Winche...
16/06/2023
Emley Moor tower to return to service
Final testing and switch-over from the temporary mast scheduled for w/c 19 June 16 June, Emley Moor, Yorkshire Following the successful completion of enginee...
05/06/2023
Arqiva CEO speaks at media industry conference
Shuja Khan speech to Media and Telecoms 2023 & Beyond Conference Transcript of speech delivered by Shuja Khan, CEO Arqiva, at the Deloitte Enders Analysis Medi...
31/05/2023
WTA Certification Program Announces Certification of Arqiva's Crawley Court Teleport
Arqiva are now uniquely positioned to now offer two Tier 4 WTA certified Telepor...
24/05/2023
Arqiva appoints Dom Wedgwood as Chief Technology Officer
The Chief Technology Officer is a key role for the business and Dom joins at a pivotal moment, following a comprehensive programme of system transformation and ...
27/04/2023
Arqiva on Water Industry Awards shortlist
Arqiva in two categories for its work with Anglian Water Arqiva is delighted to be involved in two shortlisted entries to the Water Industry Awards, to be anno...
18/04/2023
Arqiva launches new platforms for Irdeto
Platforms launched across hybrid content processing service, Arqplex 18 April 2023, UK, London: Arqiva, UK-based leading global communications infrastructure a...
27/03/2023
Delivering streaming media: reimagining CDNs
Greg Burns, head of media products, Arqiva looks at the ways streaming media providers (including traditional broadcasters) are looking to improve their approac...
07/03/2023
Local MP pays visit to iconic Emley Moor Mast
Arqiva welcomed MP Mark Eastwood to the Emley Moor mast in March 2023. Arqiva recently welcomed MP Mark Eastwood to the Emley Moor Mast. A report from the vis...
07/03/2023
Moving water into the digital age
Shuja Khan speech to the Waterwise Conference 2023 Let me start with mentioning that I grew up in a desert. You might assume that in a place like Saudi Arabi...
06/02/2023
Viasat Energy Services renewal agreed
Arqiva renews multi-year managed service agreement for Viasat Energy Services in the UK. Arqiva has secured a renewal for the services it provides to Viasat En...
02/02/2023
Arqiva returns as a Gold sponsor of SVG Europe
The move follows the launch last year of Arqade, which allows sports rights owners to deliver live video content to broadcast customers using the......
01/02/2023
Arqiva appoints Mike Smith as Executive Director, Smart Utilities Networks
Mike joins from Virgin Media O2 and the appointment is effective from 01 February 2023. 01 February, 2023, UK, Winchester, Hampshire: Leading UK communications...
19/12/2022
Arqiva appoints Gaurav Jandwani as Executive Director, Media & Broadcast
Ex Vodafone and Disney executive joins on 03 January 19 December, 2022, UK, Winchester, Hampshire: Leading UK communications infrastructure and media services ...
05/12/2022
New Broadcast 2040+ research
New survey in key constituencies finds 75% of voters want their MP to actively support the continued provision of digital terrestrial TV (Freeview) and broadcas...
28/11/2022
Rishi Sunak MP receives Bilsdale mast progress update
MP for Richmond (Yorks) visited Chop Gate, near the site for the new mast on 25 November Arqiva, the leading UK communications infrastructure and media service...
15/11/2022
Arqiva supports County Durham Community Foundations Poverty Hurts campaign
The Poverty Hurts campaign will support families choosing between heating and eating - and those who can afford neither Since the fire at the Bilsdale Mast in ...
14/11/2022
Arqiva and MainStreaming in streaming video distribution partnership
Arqiva and MainStreaming have forged a technology and services partnership, to jointly offer distribution services for the media streaming market. 14 November,...
18/10/2022
It's time for the country to take advantage of the benefits of smart water meters
Our research demonstrates that the data-driven insights provided by smart meters...
28/09/2022
Arqiva appoints Sarah Jane Crabtree as Chief People Officer
Sarah Jane joins Arqiva following 17 years at BT 03 October, 2022, UK, Winchester, Hampshire: Leading UK communications infrastructure and media services compa...
09/09/2022
Arqiva and MediaKind launch Arqplex to revolutionise headend services for video service providers
New headend-as-a-service simplifies content processing for broadcast and OTT net...
18/07/2022
Comment on House of Lords Communications and Digital Committee report
Our Chief Executive, Shuja Khan has issued a statement following today's House of Lords Communications and Digital Committee report looking at the future of...
04/07/2022
Cloud will transform live sports distribution, but making it simple, accessible and cost effective is crucial
With public cloud ready to transform live sports distribution models right now, ...
23/06/2022
Protect traditional TV & radio say the British people as Broadcast 2040+ campaign launches
A campaign to safeguard digital terrestrial TV and radio launches today as new r...
06/06/2022
Always-on, connected water metering - fast becoming a no-brainer
The scale of the external challenges facing water companies is unprecedented. Water is scarce. I know it's an odd statement given we have 133 days of rain ...
23/05/2022
Leading experts make case for accelerated adoption of always-on connected water metering
Water companies and the water sector face huge challenges over the coming decade...
18/05/2022
Arqiva launches cloud-based channel and live event interchange, Arqade
Global ecosystem for content and platform destinations allows originators and distributors to drive content revenues, reduce cost and simplify operations. May ...
10/05/2022
Arqiva announces Shuja Khan to succeed Paul Donovan as Chief Executive Officer
Shuja has been Arqiva's Chief Commercial Officer since January 2020, responsible for our revenue generating activities across all business areas UK, London...
05/05/2022
Water users are receptive to smart water meters
Smart water metering is one of the most effective measures that can be taken to help secure the UK's future water resources. Now research suggests the major...
05/05/2022
What are AMI smart water meters?
AMI smart water meters allow customers to keep track of how much water they're using so they can make informed decisions about their usage. Data from the m...
01/05/2022
Introducing our Hybrid Connectivity service
Offering a choice of managed solutions - including best-of-breed cellular and satellite terminals - Hybrid Connectivity establishes secure and highly available ...
01/05/2022
Launching Hybrid Connectivity
Arqiva, the leading communications infrastructure services company, will launch its new Hybrid Connectivity solution at Utility Week Live 2022, the pan-utility ...
13/04/2022
Smart Money - The evidence base is burgeoning for investment in AMI to make the cut at PR24
The case for Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) in water seems to grow with ...
11/04/2022
Arqiva appoints Katrina Dick as Chief Legal Officer
Katrina is appointed to the Arqiva Executive Committee, reporting to CEO Paul Donovan, in the key role of leading the Legal function and as Company Secretary to...
04/04/2022
Arqiva connects one million smart meters to its network
Arqiva works with the UK's biggest water providers in deploying smart metering programmes to meet regulatory targets and support customer behavioural change...