Urban smart water meter
metering system
Recent developments in the production of smart water meters, such as measurement technology, communication networks, the possibility of electric shut-off valves, all contribute to the creation of urban smart networks, so that smart water meters along with electric valves can be more effective than any service for managing the distribution network. act traditionally
The deployment of smart water networks also offers many benefits to the end users (customers of water companies), online consumption data collected about water consumption and displaying the extracted data can be used to manage daily, weekly and It is useful for every consumer.
One of the best and fairest ways to divide and separate energy costs and bills is to use the energy meter system, whose task is to calculate the exact consumption of units in different sectors such as water, cooling and heating systems, etc. It leads to the issuance of sub-bills for units proportional to consumption.
Why use smart measurement network
In fact, demand-based smart water meters provide the possibility of continuous two-way information exchange between water meters and central servers in a smart city context.
- Accurate measurement of water consumption (low measurement error)
- Sending the measured data of each meter to the center daily
- The possibility of daily monitoring of city, district, district, and...
- Management of distribution of water supply network based on demand, especially in critical conditions
- Reducing current costs, including reading, service and maintenance costs, etc.
- Management of consumers, especially during peak consumption (automatically cut off the water path if the standard consumption is exceeded)
Introducing the ultrasonic meter
How it works in simple language
The metering system or smart network of urban water meters consists of several different parts:
- Measuring meters with the ability to connect to the network
- Communication network equipment
- Central server
- Monitoring software and issuing invoices
1) Measuring meters
The most common meters used in the world for urban water distribution networks are either mechanical or ultrasonic.
Turbine meters by themselves do not have readers and communication network equipment, for this purpose, first by using sensors such as pulse counter and calculator board, every time the mechanical counter of the meter rotates, a pulse is received by the calculator board and its value is stored. , and at the end of the day, the number of counted pulses is sent to the central server by the communication network.
In addition, due to the operation of the pulse counter sensor by means of a magnet, any magnetic field, including magnets, electric cables, etc., can disturb the counting operation.
But this case is completely different for ultrasonic meters. Since the measurement of water consumption is done from the very beginning by ultrasonic sensors and electronic board, there is no need to count pulses in this system. be more diverse.
Among them, we can mention the measurement and display of flow rate, total volume, direction of water flow, detection of water leakage and pipe burst, etc.
1) Measuring meters
There are many different methods in meter data reading, which fall into two categories: offline and online.
Each of these methods has advantages and disadvantages that we will try to mention in this article.
2-1) Offline reading:
In this method, each meter is equipped with a wireless network such as Bluetooth or Wi-Fi or RF (Radio Frequency) with a short range, which the user after passing near each meter on foot or in a car through a receiving device , automatically receives the information from the meters of the crossing area and at the end of the day, by connecting the reader device to the central server, it transfers this information to the software and data base in the center.
Advantages of offline reading:
- No need to install interface and gateway network infrastructure and equipment
- Low consumption of the network in each of the meters and as a result longer battery life of the meters
Disadvantages of offline reading:
- The need for human resources to read information periodically
- Lack of access to daily and momentary data of meters
- Failure to know about the operation status of the meters and possible errors that occurred at the right time
- Notification of defects after the collection of meter data, which usually takes place once a month
2-2) Online reading:
In this method, each of the meters are equipped with wireless networks (RF) with a high range or the possibility of connecting to a SIM card, which can send consumption information and the performance status of the controls to the central server on a daily basis.
Advantages of online reading:
- The need for human resources to read information periodically
- Lack of access to daily and momentary data of meters
- Failure to know about the operation status of the meters and possible errors that occurred at the right time
- Notification of defects after the collection of meter data, which usually takes place once a month
Disadvantages of online reading:
- Higher energy consumption and shorter battery life compared to the offline method
- The need to install and use communication networks interface
2-2-1) Online reading through gprs sim card
In this method, each of the meters are equipped with wireless networks (RF) with a high range or the possibility of connecting to a SIM card, which can send consumption information and the performance status of the controls to the central server on a daily basis.
Advantages of online reading through SIM card:
- Use of telecommunication network infrastructure
- The possibility of installing the meter scattered in terms of geographical location
Disadvantages of online reading via SIM card:
- Much higher energy consumption than RF networks
- Weaker antenna coverage underground compared to wireless networks
- Less security in the communication network
- The use of 2G modules due to the high price of 3G-4G, which in the near future we will see the production of this module stop and the collection of infrastructure
- Dependence on the telecommunication network, which will also suffer in case of any problem in this data transmission system network
2-2-2) Online reading through LoraWan network
Nowadays, the use of infrastructures related to the IOT (internet of things) network is very common in the world, because in the not too distant future, all the objects and appliances around us will be equipped with this infrastructure.
Among the networks used in this infrastructure are the 5G mobile network and the Lorawan communication network.
Advantages of online reading through LoraWan network
- Very low network energy consumption
- No dependence on mobile network infrastructure
- Higher penetration of radio waves than mobile network due to lower wavelength
- Higher security of the communication network due to the exclusivity of this network
Advantages of online reading through LoraWan network
- The need to implement the infrastructure and install the gateway
- Unable to use for decentralized situations