Irish Meters Are Here
Published on by Water Network Research, Official research team of The Water Network in Business
A look behind the scenes at Irish Water meter reading
That is because the utility, and its two contracted companies tasked with carrying out the work, have rolled out a highly sophisticated programme using radio signals, transponders and bleeping hand-held devices.
It means the country's six full-time water meter readers should be able to read all 650,000 units without ever stepping out of their vans or reaching into a single drain.
"The technology is known as AMR - Automatic Meter Reading. It's different from traditional meter reading where someone has to physically look at the meter," meter data manager Andy Day explained to the Irish Independent.
"The meter readers have no interaction directly with the meters. It's different to other countries and is much more efficient for it."
We accompanied Irish Water through one estate in Sutton in Dublin armed with just a handheld device and a mobile phone.
As we pass by houses, grey dots appear on the screen - each one representing a meter to be read.
The device emits a short sharp beep which indicates the meter has been successfully read.
"There's an internal clock in each meter which means we can take a reading from the midnight on the end of the month. This is how we can accurately compile bills," Andy explains, adding the internal clock is also being used to detect leaks and has facilitated the first-fix scheme.
He adds the targets are being met, with one reader reading up to 9,000 units on a good day. Somewhere around 29,000 units read in total is the record.
Irish Water says the meter reading process has run much more smoothly than the installation phase.
They say it is not a "covert operation" and many of the meter reading vans are marked with their logo.
Despite this, on the day we accompany them the van does not bear any markings. In addition, the names of the contracted companies are a closely guarded secret, and the meter reader we speak to is willing to offer his first name only.
"It's all run very smoothly so far. Some people have been suspicious but it's more people curious as to what you're doing or how it all works," Gene explains.
He and his colleagues send the data to a web-based Irish Water database. It is from this that the utility processes bills and sends them to homes.
Source: Independent
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- Smart Meters
- Water Utility
- Pricing