Leakage could be lower and customer consumption higher than supposed for many companies, early results from a Thames Water smart water network management trial suggest.
Initial data from the two-year trial, which started in October 2011, showed water consumption by customers during the hours of darkness was higher than expected. Night-time network water demand is used by many companies as a basis for leakage estimates, on the assumption that households use minimal water in the early hours.
The trial, run by the water company in partnership with SmartReach, used around 1,600 smart meters in Reading. The trial will be extended to London in order to test the performance of long-range radio communications on harder-to-reach meter locations.
This article first appeared in Utility Week’s print edition of 5th October 2012.
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