Smart Metering

Smart metering and smart water systems are providing urban areas with data-driven tools to improve management of water resources. As population growth and climate change affect the demand for and availability of water, smart water management and smart water metering are enabling municipalities to reduce costs, conserve resources and ensure an uninterrupted supply of water for residences and businesses.

Traditional water meters are standalone devices that must be physically read by a meter reader who typically visits a property 6 to 12 times per year. These meters can’t provide real-time information about consumption, meaning water bills are often based on estimates rather than actual consumption. Smart metering changes this formula by employing digital devices with network connectivity that not only provide data on the amount of water consumed, but also on when it was consumed, transmitting readings to water utilities at any time they are required. As a result, smart metering enables utilities to get a much clearer picture of water consumption patterns, allowing cities to better understand current demand and to forecast for the future.

In addition to smart metering, smart city water solutions include smart water sensors placed throughout the water distribution system to monitor everything from water flow, pressure and temperature to bacteria and pathogen levels in water supplies and the performance of water infrastructure equipment.

Together, smart meters and sensors provide real-time data that enables cities to:

• Prevent water shortages due to leaks and insufficient planning, and to ensure adequate water supply through varying levels of demand.
• Save money by minimizing non-revenue water loss due to leaks and theft, and by managing water infrastructure more efficiently.
• Ensure public safety by continuously monitoring water quality, addressing problems early and issuing alerts when water quality degrades.
• Optimize pumping operations to reduce energy costs.
• Perform predictive maintenance to extend the lifecycle of assets and avoid unplanned outages.
• Alleviate stress on water distribution networks through advanced planning.

Smart metering and smart water technology: the basics

Smart metering requires businesses and homes to be outfitted with new digital meters that can connect to the city via broadband, telephone, fiber, wireless or cellular connections, depending on the metering technology. Additionally, smart water technology typically includes:

• Sensors to monitor water supplies and water distribution infrastructure.
• Network connectivity that can connect sensors and transmit the extraordinary volume of data they produce to the cloud.
• Data analytics software and data management platforms that enable water utilities to glean actionable intelligence from the mountains of raw data aggregated from sensors and smart metering devices.

Spectrum Enterprise: connectivity for smart metering and other smart infrastructure

With more than 840,000 miles of fiber network infrastructure nationwide, Spectrum Enterprise is already providing a foundation of connectivity for smart cities in the United States. An additional investment of $25 billion by 2021 will add new capacity, positioning Spectrum as an ideal and trusted partner to municipalities adopting smart city technologies.

To enable cities to adopt smart metering and smart water management solutions, Spectrum Enterprise provides:

• 100 Gbps symmetrical connection speeds for governments and enterprises on a two-way, fully interactive digital network.
• Gigabit Internet connections for homes and businesses, enabling smart metering devices to easily connect to the cloud.
• Cellular and WiFi connections, providing the diversity of connectivity protocols required by smart technology solutions. Spectrum Mobile is one of the largest LTE cellular networks in the nation, while Spectrum’s 350,000 WiFi hotspots nationwide will soon offer wireless connection speeds up to 1 Gbps.

Learn more about Spectrum Smart Cities at www.spectrumsmartcities.com.