News | 19 Apr 2024

New IoT smart water meters could cut water consumption by 15%

The UK will be the first market to experience an accelerated roll-out of remote water meter-reading, following a new global partnership between SUEZ and Vodafone.

Vodafone has partnered with SUEZ, a specialist in remote water-meter reading, to help reduce unnecessary water consumption in the UK and beyond.

Remote readings of smart water meters can help lower water consumption by 15%, thanks to their ability to monitor usage and help detect leaks. However, this is only possible if a high-performance communication network is in place.

As a leader in Narrowband (NB) Internet of Things (IoT) networks, Vodafone’s technology will help SUEZ to meet their aim of bringing more than 2 million NB-IoT meters online by 2030.

NB-IoT is a low-power, wide-area network (LPWAN) technology. As NB-IoT provides long-range communication with as little impact as possible on battery life, it can effectively connect meters that may be in remote, insulated or underground locations.

How IoT tech could save the UK three billion litres of water a day

Earlier this year, Vodafone partnered with SES Water to develop and implement Narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) technology that could save the UK economy millions of pounds every year.

In 2021, Vodafone successfully doubled the number of sites connected to its NB-IoT network, expanding overall coverage to 98% of the Vodafone UK network. Paired with existing mobile coverage, this network allows Vodafone to create tailored connectivity solutions based on the IoT application in question. Vodafone’s extensive experience in IoT has seen it work on other smart meter projects.

Following an initial roll-out in the UK, SUEZ plans to gradually expand these services to customers in France, Italy, New Zealand and Spain, adding to their existing 6 million deployed units worldwide.

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