20%
of water stolen due to meter tampering
20%
extra cost due to meter reading
errors and high labour cost
40%
of water loss due to faulty
installation and degraded equipment
Revenue water
Revenue water refers to both water produced by the organization (e.g. recycled water) and supplied from the water utilities and sub-sold to other parties. The three major pain points related to revenue water are water theft, water installations and manual processes.
Each of the pain points, if not properly monitored and acted on, can lead to revenue loss.
Water theft
Water theft is a major problem in some countries. Techniques vary from blunt approaches such as tapping of pipes and meter tampering with magnets to sophisticated methods such as water piping bypass
Unattended water theft can lead to as much as 5% to 20% of water revenue loss.
Manual processes
Traditional manual meter reading may appear to be cost effective, but this apparent advantage is fast evaporating with rising labor costs and the need for frequent real-time reads to support an intelligent and more responsive water network. Manual meter reading is also often rife with errors, from meter reading error to subsequent data entry error.
Keeping to a manual process means up to 20% additional cost.
Water installation
Water meters are technically simple to install, and if properly installed, easily last more than a decade. However, installation mistakes such as mis-orientation, failure to fully tighten connections leading to leakage, wrong encoder used, or natural wear & tear leading to degradation & corrosion of meter components, will result in reduced metering accuracy. In some situations, the entire meter has failed but escapes detection.
A minor problem such as small leak may result in metering inaccuracy of 5% to 10%, but a major issue such as encoder mistake can cause misbilling of up to 60%!
