Smart water meters for better drinking water management

By: Rida Bergoi – Tunisia has always been short of water and has had difficulties in obtaining drinking water. The ingenious system of Roman aqueducts or the cisterns of the Aghlabids in Kairouan attest to this. However, the situation continues to deteriorate, mainly due to a decrease in resources and an increase in demand. In recent years, climate change has worsened the water situation by causing a lack of rain, heat and drought, making the proper management of our meagre water resources urgent and necessary.

Drinking water is an important strategic component. The national challenge of ensuring that all consumers have access to drinking water at all times sometimes becomes difficult to meet, especially in the summer when water levels are at their lowest. In this regard, control and close monitoring of consumption, prevention of waste and losses are important means of good management, both at the citizen level and at the water supplier level.

The performance of the drinking water network is too low

Water losses in the network correspond to the difference between the volume of water produced and the volume of water recorded in the water meters installed by the consumers. This water is not billed and represents a financial loss for the company, which must work to reduce it in order to improve profitability. The difference between the volume distributed and the volume billed includes unaccounted water (fire hydrants, public fountains, etc.), service volumes (for network operation), leaks and losses in case of channel breaks, reading errors (meter blockages, poor calibration, wrong readings, etc.) and illegal connections. Visible and invisible leaks are usually caused by old pipes, excessive pressure in the network and sometimes ground movements.

In Tunisia, water losses in the network are huge. According to data from Salonede, in 2019, the number of users was about 3 million, the production volume was 729.9 million cubic meters, the distribution volume was 647.3 million cubic meters, and the invoiced volume was only 461.2 million cubic meters. The efficiency of the distribution network would be 68.8%. Nearly 270 million cubic meters³ (1/3 of the production) is lost. This represents the average capacity of the Sidi Barak Dam, the second dam in Tunisia after Sidi Salem, which has a capacity of 265 million cubic meters. The water production in 2019 (i.e. 729.9 million cubic meters) came from surface water (412.5 million cubic meters.) or groundwater (305.4 million cubic meters) In 2017, the Sonede network covered 53,161 kilometers (nearly 10 kilometers of transmission distance and the rest distributed), of which 40% of the network was more than 30 years old and 17% was more than 50 years old. There were an average of 4 leaks and 0.33 pipe ruptures per kilometer of the network.

In the context of the water crisis, the losses observed on the Salonede network represent a serious waste of resources and a major environmental challenge, making it essential to protect an increasingly scarce resource. In addition, drinking water is very expensive for the country’s society. The sales price billed to consumers covers only a part of its real cost price. In this context, every drop of water counts and we must know how to exploit it and use it wisely.

In France, we accept a network loss rate of 20%, of which 70% represent actual leakages and the remaining 30% are due to consumption metering problems (missing or under-metering). Reducing leakages, sub-metering of consumers (faulty or poorly sized meters, poor readings, etc.), and controlling the water supply system to prevent illegal and uncontrolled connections can increase the efficiency of some networks to 90%.

Connecting the instrument

New technologies such as artificial intelligence, connected objects (Internet of Things or IoT), robotics, home automation, drones, etc. represent a real revolution that is completely changing our experience. These technologies can contribute to our well-being, help us make our lives easier and solve many problems. That is why they are adopted by everyone and continue to be integrated and embedded in our environment and daily life.

Smart meters, also known as intelligent meters, digital meters or communicating meters, represent an interesting application of these new technologies that can help us properly manage and protect our resources. These meters can monitor the use of resources in real time, quickly locate losses and prevent any waste or misuse. All over the world, these networked meters are being used in large numbers to replace old mechanical meters.

In addition to measuring and recording consumption, smart electricity, gas and water meters are also able to transmit information in real time to suppliers and users via wireless connections. This allows consumption to be precisely monitored and resource use to be optimized.

These instruments allow for remote reading and billing, and intervention when necessary, such as suspending or restoring the energy or water supply to the user. This is also possible thanks to the apps they offer:

• Understand your consumption history
• Manage your account (invoicing, online payments, etc.)
• Report overspending to you
• Leak detection.

They send you alerts if overconsumption exceeds a threshold that you can set yourself or if there is a network leak. They thus give you real-time insight into your consumption, thus facilitating and promoting rational and responsible management.

Networked instruments open up many prospects and are being promoted worldwide due to their advantages in better utilization of resources and protection of the environment.

Finally, the information recorded by these meters can give insights into the private lives of those who live in the accommodation (times of absence, time of activity, number of people, etc.). Vigilance must be exercised to protect and respect the privacy of the people involved. In addition, like any computer system and connected device, smart meters can be subject to cyberattacks and hacking. It is the company’s responsibility to protect its data and respect the privacy of its subscribers.

Smart water meters, a solution for good management

Steg has launched the installation of smart meters in Tunisia, with the first phase about to go into operation. These connected meters offer many advantages, including reading and automatic remote billing without the need to visit the customer (remote meter reading), billing for real consumption, without fictitious intermediate billing, and better monitoring of consumption and waste.

For Sonede, connected water meters allow remote self-reading of the user’s water consumption and intervention in the water supply when necessary. This eliminates the need to mobilize full staff to take over shifts, alleviating the heavy burden of wages and labor. The system also allows Sonede to collect all debts without having to travel and personally intervene at the meter counters in sometimes tense and conflicting situations with citizens. The information collected by these meters can help detect leaks, pipe breaks, diversions and water theft in real time, and react quickly to solve problems, limit losses, protect resources and improve network efficiency.
Given the water crisis we are currently experiencing, it is essential to monitor our consumption, prevent any diversion of drinking water (agricultural or industrial), and prevent any loss and waste of water. Smart water meters are an interesting way to monitor and control consumption, helping Sonede to improve the management of water supply to users, reduce losses and improve the performance of the network and its financial situation.

All together

With climate change, it is imperative to protect water, a strategically important resource that is becoming increasingly scarce and precious. There is still much work to be done in terms of availability and use. Sonede must work to improve the performance of its distribution network. It must have a real policy to deal with losses and develop an actionable anti-leakage action plan (detect visible and invisible leaks, repair them as quickly as possible, renovate pipes, check and replace blocked or defective meters, conduct consumer awareness campaigns, etc.). The government must provide it with the necessary means to achieve these goals.

The citizen must exercise his civil rights. He must ensure that the water provided is used to its full potential and check his household installations for losses and leaks. He must also denounce illegal, clandestine connections and report any leaks or broken pipes. Sonede provides a toll-free number 80 100 319 for the public to lodge complaints.

The issue of drinking water is a matter of national strategy. We all care (the state, politicians, soned, citizens, civil society, families, the entire education system, the media, etc.), and everyone must play their part and fulfill their duty for the good of our homeland and our future. Children. “Patriotism is the first virtue of civilized man. »Napoleon Bonaparte.

Rida Belgawi