Infrastructure provider Arqiva is running a smart meter trial for Anglian Water, one of the UK’s largest water companies.
Arqiva will build a fixed network infrastructure to handle the deployment of 7,500 smart meters as part of the four year contract.
Anglian Water said it wanted to achieve 100 percent customer satisfaction across Newmarket, Suffolk, as well as to ensure no bursts or leakage and reduction of water consumption.
Hourly readings from the smart meters will be sent to the water company to identify unusual patterns of usage that could give the sign of a burst or leak in the network.
The meters could potentially deliver data every 15 minutes, which Arqiva said could give more accurate indicators of how effectively a water network is operating.
Customers will be given access to their data and will be sent tips to reduce water consumption.
Sean Weir, Director Smart M2M at Arqiva, said: “Accurate monitoring enables consumers to better understand their usage and helps the water companies pinpoint and act quickly on leakages.”
Paul Glass, Anglian Water’s Programme Manager for the smart metering initiative, added: “Long-term access to secure supplies of water is one of the most pressing environmental and economic challenges the world faces today, and that challenge is particularly acute in the east of England, which is the driest region in the UK. Getting to grips with it is not something that can wait until tomorrow.
“We want to lead the way in raising awareness about how essential water is to life, people and the environment, but also draw attention to the role technologies like this can have in helping address the challenges of a growing population and changing climate.”