Digitale water meter

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Digitale water meter

Digital water meter pilot projects underway

At the start of 2019, De Watergroep fitted a digital water meter at the town hall in Laarne, as part of a large-scale pilot project to test how digital meters work in practice.

De Watergroep is fully committed to digital service provision. Using six pilot projects, we are testing different types of digital water meters, together with the associated communication technology. The first of these meters was fitted at the town hall in Laarne, a rural municipality in East Flanders. Another 250 digital meters were installed around the town afterwards, including at the mayor’s residence and in the homes of people who signed up to take part in the scheme. Further meters will be fitted around Leuven and Lokeren in a future phase of the project.

introductie foto Digital water meter pilot projects underway

Why digital?

“Digital water meters enable us to offer our customers extra services”, Smart Meter Systems project leader Cindy Vanderstraeten explains. “First and foremost, they no longer have to submit their meter reading every year; this is taken care of automatically. On top of that, they can monitor their own daily consumption, meaning any leaks can be spotted more quickly and unexpectedly high bills can be avoided. Digital water meters also give us better insight into the consumption of our customers, which enables us to better manage our production. If we spot any potential leaks, we can notify our customers. That last aspect seems to be working quite well: during the pilot period, we have detected at least one leak so far. Needless to say, we manage our customer’s consumption data will all due respect for their safety and privacy.”

Together with Fluvius

Once the 6 pilot projects have been completed, De Watergroep will install a digital water meter with all of its customers. “We are doing so in cooperation with other Flemish water companies and with Fluvius, the Belgian electricity and gas grid operator”, according to Cindy Vanderstraeten. “Fluvius will be installing a digital electricity meter in all homes over the next few years. This will also be linked to a digital water meter, so that we do not need to arrange any additional communication technology. That way, we are sharing the cost and customers don’t need to provide any extra space.”

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