Last time we took a look at District Metering and how flow meters are essential tools to municipal water applications. For today’s blog, we’re continuing discussing flow meters and water management, shifting the focus over to Non-Revenue Water (NRW), which is considered any water that is produced but gets lost before it reaches a customer.
Management efficiency and cost control are two major reasons why utilities constantly seek to find and eliminate NRW. With today’s technology, newer meters are essential tools to monitor water flow so that a utility can accurately bill customers for the water that is actually delivered.
For today’s example, we present a scenario involving a pair of utilities that each deliver 60 MGD of water for the same cost per gallon, but utilize different meter sensors with varying levels of accuracy. Utility A installs a single sensor meter that is accurate to 96% and measures 57.6 MGD; the loss in NRW is 2.4 MGD with a cost of $3.70 per thousand gallons or $8,880 each day, for a total cost of $3,241,200 for the year. Utility B chooses to go with a multi-sensor electromagnetic meter that’s 99.5% accurate and measures 59.7 MGD; the loss in NRW being eight times lower at 300,000 gallons per day or $1,110 per day and $405,150 annually. Utility B potentially saves up to $2,836,050.
The above example perfectly illustrates how imperative it is to choose a water meter that is accurate as it allows water managers to count the savings when it comes to a distribution system and its flow monitoring.
The Avanti Company, provides Leak detection products such as 64 seconds and RedZone, Flow Meters and Metering Systems products including water meters and Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) to maximize and better utilize the data coming into your Utility. Call 1-800-284-5231 for additional information on water and wastewater system products like McCrometer or visit our website at www.avanticompany.com to learn more about the services we provide including on-site flow meter testing, sewer flow monitoring, and metering system support.