This document discusses how modern metering technologies can help conserve water through improved water usage data and customer engagement. It notes that water is becoming more volatile and utilities need to better understand customer water usage. Modern meters provide highly accurate usage data that can help utilities reduce non-revenue water, engage customers to reduce demand, more efficiently maintain infrastructure, and increase utility revenues. The document concludes that meter data technologies allow utilities to balance water supply and demand while increasing revenue and customer satisfaction.

1. Water Conservation through Meter
Technology
Jason Bethke, PE
President and Chief Growth Officer
FATHOM

2. 12 Regulated
Utilities
Utility Operating
Systems
Global Water FATHOM

3. ALL OF EARTH'S WATER
Diameter approximately 860 mi (1400 km)
Volume: 332,500,000 mi3 (1,386,000,000 km3)
LIQUID FRESH WATER
Diameter approximately 169.5 mi (272.8 km)
Volume: 2,551,100 mi3 (10,633,450 km3)
WATER IN LAKES AND RIVERS
Diameter approximately 34.9 mi (56.2 km)
Volume: 22,339 mi3 (93,113 km3)
Credit: Howard Perlman, USGS; globe illustration by Jack Cook, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
(©); Adam Nieman.
Data source: Igor Shiklomanov's chapter "World fresh water resources“ , 1993, Water in Crisis: A Guide
to the World's Fresh Water Resources (Oxford University Press, New York).
The Blue Planet

4. Source: Durack & Wijffels, Journal of Climate, 2010 (CSIRO)
Paul J. Durack et al, Ocean Salinities Reveal Strong Global Water Cycle Intensification During 1950 to 2000 Science 336, 455 (2012)
R. Kerr, “The Greenhouse Is Making the Water-Poor Even Poorer”, SCIENCE VOL 336 27 APRIL 2012
“The faster water cycles, the more
abundant and more violent those
storms might be. And wet places
getting wetter can lead to more
severe and more frequent flooding.
Dry places getting drier would mean
longer and more intense droughts.”
“In a future GHG-forced 2° to 3°C
warmer world, this implies a
16 to 24% amplification of the
global water cycle will occur.”
Water Volatility

5. Mixed picture.Between 2003 and 2012, GRACE data show water losses in agricultural regions
such as California's Central Valley (1) (−1.5 ± 0.1 cm/year) and the Southern High Plains
Aquifer (2) (−2.5 ± 0.2 cm/year), caused by overreliance on groundwater to supply irrigation
water.
J S Famiglietti, and M Rodell Science 2013;340:1300-1301
Published by AAAS
Water Scarcity

6. “A key to improving efficiency is
understanding where, when, and why we
use water.”
Source: Gleick, P., “Roadmap for sustainable water resources in southwestern North America,” PNAS, 14 Dec 2010
Demand-Side Management
Customers need DATA to change behavior

7. • Water is becoming more
volatile
• Utilities are becoming more
customer centric
• Instrumentation is becoming
affordable
• M2M, mobile
• Convergence of technologies
• Big Data
• Analytics
• Push for efficiencies to
maintain lower rates
Context for Modern Metering

8. Source: Shadi Eskaf, “Are operating revenues declining for local government-owned water utilities? Evidence from six states”, 2013,
Environmental Finance Center at the University of North Carolina. (http://tinyurl.com/crd2rpt)
,
Revenue is Decreasing
Protecting revenue through proactive management of
the resources is critical to utility financial performance.

9. Customers will demand tools to understand these costs
Source: J. Beecher, “Trends in Consumer Prices (CPI) for Utilities through 2011”, Institute of Public Utilities, Michigan State University, 2012
Cost of Water is Increasing

10. “Understanding the role of information and the
household consumer is integral for transforming
a „Water Supply City‟ where the focus is on
infrastructure alone to a „Water Sensitive City‟
where infrastructure, users and the environment
are integrated.”
Damien P. Giurco , Stuart B. White and Rodney A. Stewart, “Smart Metering and Water End-Use Data: Conservation Benefits and Privacy Risks” Water
2010, 2, 461-467
The Importance of Data

11. Meter
Comms
End-
Point
Data
Normalization
Read
Management
Analytics
CIS
Customer
Portal
Engineering/
Operations
Push
Notifications
SCADA
Hydraulic
Model
Leak Detection
Non-numeric Read
Hi/Lo Consumption
Unauthorized Use
Meter Health Monitoring
Water Balance
Conservation Aspects of Modern Metering Technologies
Utility Portal

12. Source: Symmonds, G., “Are You Leaking Water or Data?”, Water Canada, Sep/Oct 2011
Meter Accuracy Trending

13. Source: Mattar, R., “Kahramaa’s vision for non-revenue water reduction”, Water Utility 21, April 2013
Apparent Losses = 2 x Real Losses
LEAKING DATA
Data-Side Management

14. Geo-located meters
ensure all meters are
billed all the time.
GIS-enabled audit
technologies ensure all
meters are in the billing
platform.
Highly granular meter
data can be used to
ensure accuracy of meter
readings.
Non-Revenue Water

15. Real-time pumped-vs-
billed analysis ensures
highly accurate
understanding of non-
metered use.
Combined with real-time
hydraulic models
unmetered use can be
pinpointed.
Non-Revenue Water

16. Combining CIS + AMI data
finds water theft by
disconnected customers.
Non-Revenue Water

17. GIS-based Field and Paper
Audits find data voids.
Validating infrastructure
vs relying on old data
eliminates errors.
GIS-enabled best practices
and Data Validation tools
built into systems
maintain the integrity of
the data.
Non-Revenue Water

18. Real-time demand data +
hydraulic modeling finds
real leakage.
This “first-principles”
approach validates flows
and does not rely on
established baselines –
can identify pre-existing
leaks which can be hidden
in baseline acoustic or
analytics methods.
Non-Revenue Water

19. How much water do I use?
How do I fare compared to my
street, my neighborhood, my city?
How much water should I use?
Based on weather data and
evapotranspiration calculations –
how much should I have used
outside?
Customer Data in Time and Space

20. Contextualized Data

21. More Data Means More Customer Interaction

22. Real-time
Conservation
Push Notifications

23. • Money & Earth Saving Services
• E-Bills Sign Up
• AutoPay
• Water Savings Tips
Easy & Intuitive Access to Information

24. Channel Shift via Customer Interaction

25. “Throughout history, a crucial feature of human
behavior has been our propensity to copy or imitate
the behaviors, choices and opinions of others.”
Source: Paul Ormerod, “Social networks can spread the Olympic effect”, 20 SEPTEMBER 2012 | VOL 489 | NATURE | 337
Through the provision of instantaneous feedback on
water consumption, average consumption can be
reduced by 14%.
Source: Wesley Schultz, Warren DeCianni and Alexis Roldan, “Water Conservation Pilot”, California State University, San Marcos
Customer Benefits

26. Source: Global Water Data
Conservation via Channel Shift with Meter Data

27. Demand Reduction

28. Overall consumption reduced by 12%
Demand Reduction

29. Source: Symmonds, G., “Get Smart!”, UIM, Jan/Feb 2012
Finding Drops in the Data

30. Source: Global Water Data
Data Means More Revenue

31. Source: CERES, Water Ripples: EXPANDING RISKS FOR U.S. WATER PROVIDERS, December 2012
More Efficient Infrastructure Deployment

32. In a recently completed Smart Grid for Water installation, replacing
meters resulted in a 24.6% increase in billed volumes over the old
meters, reducing apparent water loss and preserving revenue.
Throughout the first six months of operation, the full benefit of the
internal processes and systems increased revenue by $1.63 million.
In another utility, a Smart Grid installation resulted in:
• A decrease in water loss from 34% to 14%
• An increase in billed volume of 31.5%
• An increase in revenue of 40.6%
Meter Data Drives Revenue & Resource Sustainability

33. Conclusions
Modern metering technologies:
• Provide highly accurate, granular data
• Reconnect customers to their water use
• Find leaks of water and data
• Manage meter degradation
• Allows for instantaneous water balance
• Provide customers the data necessary for behavior
change
• Find revenue
• Extend the life of our existing infrastructure

34. • Increase Revenue
• Decrease Costs
• Delight Customers
• Preserve Our Most Vital
Resource
FATHOM
www.TheSmartGridForWater.com
Questions