Smart Meter Configuration

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I am currently  configuring a smart water meter such that the physical reading should match online reading in the platform.

The readings doesn't match as a result of the last digits which I am estimating which gives difference of 0.1.

The configuration guide book doesn't give the allowable limits. To me, I think the readings should match.  How should I go about it because I need to roll out use of online reading and more so convince customer of this difference. 

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6 Answers

  1. Hi Caroline,

    Is the smart reading device is separated (attached) to the water meter such as pulse reader or is it embedded inside the water meter?

    Because based on your case, it looks like that you have a separated reading device (such as a pulse reader). If the smart reader is embedded electronically into the water meter, the discrepancy would unlikely to happen. If this is the case, you should calibrate the pulse readings with current index. There might still be errors but it’s supposed to involve only the last digit (e.g. in mL depends on your water meter pulse weight).

    Hope this helps.

     

    Best regards,

    Muhammad Alfalah Fauzi

  2. Hi Caroline,

    I think it is important to state which units are you talking about, .1 of a liter or gallon is not much of a difference, while .1 of a cubic meter or acre-feet is very significant.

    Can the system be calibrated to have better agreement with physical measurements? If not, can the readings be adjusted after the read to comply with your requirements?

    Best.

    Miguel.

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  4. Caroline, there are many factors which affect the accuracy and display of water meter data. The type of meter technology, size, accuracy class and dynamic range are all important data points. Then comes the pulse factor - the number of times the meter rotates for each litre or cubic meter of water passing through the meter, and finally and most important in respect of your question, the read method and communication with your data display system. The International Measurement directive defines an accuracy band of +/-2% for the normal measurement range, so I don't think you need to worry about the 0.1 difference. Also, water meters are designed to under read when new and gradually over read as they speed up due to wear and age.

    I assume from your question that your immediate concern is that the reading on the display system doesn't agree with the reading on the index of the meter? If you are using a magnetic pulse reader it is very unlikely that both readings will be identical because the reader can miss pulses and your display system or data logger may be externally powered and lose pulses if power or communications links fail. The only way to ensure identical readings is to use a smart meter with a direct electronic reader such as M-Bus.

  5. Different brands may vary, but there are likely several possible reasons. Some may read to the 10th of a gallon locally for leak detection reason a, but only transmit whole gallons. There could also be a lag between the reading being stored in the memory, to being available to transmit as a reading. With wired encoder meters (USA), the transmitter may only interrogate the register periodically, Sometimes  from once a minute to only once per hour or two to preserve battery life.

  6. Hi Caroline.  I don't know that its that important that the actual use and the platform match.  A typical utility only reads once per month manually,  even the most accurate AMI system rarely reads more than 4 times per hour, both of which will likely lag actual use.   That said, we have had some clients that like a reading every 5 minutes and have supported them.  I think it's most important to understand your clients need for the information to assess the proper read interval.  I hope this is helpful.