1. WEG-Wise MeterTalk© Case Study
SMART METERING TECHNOLOGY
The challenges facing the water industry are
well documented by government, industry and
consumers. Infrastructure investment and
population growth are driving the water
industry to explore innovative solutions so as
to deliver improved services and more
efficient decision making. Smart Water
Metering (SWM) is one such innovative
solution.
Smart water metering refers to a system that
measures water consumption or abstraction
and communicates that information in an
automated fashion for monitoring and billing
purposes. Smart meters differ from
conventional meters in that they measure
consumption in greater detail and transmit
that information back to the service provider
without the need for manual readings. Smart
metering systems can be configured in many
ways, and when broadly defined, the term
includes both Automated Meter Reading
(AMR) and Advanced Metering Infrastructure
(AMI) systems (National Smart Metering
Programme 2009).
AMR refers to any system that allows
automated collection of meter reads (usually
by radio transmission), without the need for
physical inspection. AMI is used to describe a
system that involves two-way communication
with a water meter. That is, water
consumption information is transmitted to
utilities, whilst utilities can in turn issue
commands to water meters to undertake
specific functions (Smart Water Systems
2011).
The 'intelligence' of the meter is incorporated
in the meter. It has three basic functions:
measure the water used, remotely switch the
customer off and remotely control the
maximum consumption (Smart Metering
2006).
One of the major issues affecting water
utilities in the developing world is the
considerable difference between the amount
of water put into the distribution system and
the amount of water billed to consumers (also
called “non-revenue water” [NRW]). High
levels of NRW reflect huge volumes of water
being lost through leaks, not being invoiced to
customers, or both. It seriously affects the
financial viability of water utilities through lost
revenues and increased operational costs
(Water Supply and Sanitation Sector 2006).
SOUTH AFRICAN CONTEXT
Municipalities are losing considerable
amounts of water every year due to
uncontrolled supply of water, theft, tampering
and inadequate billing systems. There is a
need to provide the South African water sector
with a tool which will assist municipalities,
responsible for water service delivery, to
manage their water supply business and
consumer billing at the meter level. This need
has become even more apparent within the
realms of the current Free Basic Water (FBW)
legislation and the substantial costs
associated with running a Water Service
Authority (WSA).
Numerous studies have shown the
introduction of water management systems
such as SWM bring about a significant
reduction of water consumption and wastage
and may significantly improve the collection of
revenue. Jeffares and Green and WEG-wise
have been identifying SWM technology
solutions thereby forming an alliance to
provide the market with a low cost water
management system that includes SWM
which is robust, user friendly and can provide
the following unique solutions to water
services delivery:
• Calculate and limit monthly and daily
volumes;
• Remotely limit water supply without
completely cutting off supply
• Real time mains and consumer leak
detection
• Tampering alarms and flag illegal
connections or meter by-passing
• Automated meter reading direct to
office based system (bring to an end
manual meter reading or drive by data
collection)
• Streamline and improve municipality
billing systems
• 100% reads with no human error all
the time
(WEG-Wise, 2011)
WEG-Wise Africa (Pty) Ltd.
19 ,Nebula Crescent
Blackheath 7580
South Africa
+27 21 9058058
wegwiseafrica.com
info@WEG-Wise.com

2. WEG-Wise MeterTalk© Case Study
CASE STUDIES AREAS
Two areas in the KwaZulu-Natal region were
identified as suitable candidates for the
Jeffares and Green and WEG-Wise pilot
study: - to identify technologically driven
robust solution for saving water and collecting
revenue. The two study areas are; Hilton
Gardens outside Pietermaritzburg and the
Madadeni in Newcastle.
Hilton Gardens Automated Water
Management Pilot Study
Hilton Gardens in uMgungundlovu District
Municipality was chosen as the first case
study site to test the latest technology in
automated smart metering and current water
management systems. This area was chosen
due to it being an easily accessible site, a
discrete reticulation zone and a manageable
number of households. The initial stage of the
project involved collecting data from October
2011 to March 2012 using the automated
water meter system simultaneously with the
original municipal water meters as a
comparative reference. A total of 132
residential properties were identified within
the study area as participants for the pilot
study and 23 households were then selected
for statistical testing. The key findings are as
follows:
A total of 240.84kℓ out of a total of 3 241.84kℓ
during the six month analysis period were
unaccounted for. This is a 7% loss. The
arithmetical mean under reading for the
selected households was 10.89kℓ with a
6.35% of total value. This mean is significant
statistically when tested to significance levels
of [5.84≤µx≤16.05]. There is a 95% probability
that the true mean meter reading for the entire
population lies at this value. This translates to
a 6.35% loss on possible revenue for the
municipality.
Taking both of these losses into
consideration, if all 249 land parcels within
Hilton Gardens were accurately metered with
the smart metering system, a savings of 2
711.61kℓ could be made over six months. This
equates to R21 421.71 at R7.90/kℓ.
Further, the results of the billing analysis
reported that of a total of 158 properties
surveyed, 40 properties were not receiving
water bills and did not appear in the
municipality database for Hilton Gardens.
Therefore extrapolating the results from the
metering analysis above, a total of 5 995.2kℓ
was unaccounted for during the reporting
period at an average monthly consumption of
24.98kℓ per household. At R7.90/Kℓ this
equates to R47 362.08 in non-remuneration
for the six month data collection period.
Madadeni Leak Repair and Meter
Installation
During December 2012 sixty-six WEG-Wise
Census 220C meters and flow limiter valve
Radio Frequency units were installed in
Madadeni, 8km east of the city centre of
Newcastle. This area is deemed by the
municipality as a high water loss zone. Flow
data was collected by the WEG-Wise
Intelligent meters for these households.
A total of 2 405.791kℓ was consumed by the
66 connections for the month. The average
consumption per connection was 36.451kℓ
during this period with maximum usage of one
connection recorded to be 364.88kℓ equating
to R2 371.72* and the minimum being 1.41kℓ
at R7.41 for the same period. (*Costs at
R6.5/kℓ).
An analysis of the free basic water allowance
(FBWA) in Madadeni based on the 12kℓ
allowance per connection per month revealed
excessive water use over and above the
FBWA from 47 connections or 71% of users.
The total overuse in excess of FBWA and
subsequent unaccounted cost to the
municipality was 1 736.78kℓ or R11 289.
If the WEG-Wise system were to be
implemented to limit consumption to
12kℓ/month in accordance with the FBWA,
then the actual consumption for one month
would be 669kℓ. The actual bulk water
purchased would be valued at R2 341.54.
This equates to a savings of R6 078.73 per
year to the municipality in bulk water
purchases. Alternatively if the households
had been billed for their water use in excess
of 12kℓ/month, then the municipality could
have generated R11 289.07 in income. This
savings/revenue is for just 66 households.
The potential for entire municipalities is
significant. For example, a simple
extrapolation to 10 000 households translates
into an income potential of nearly R2 million a
month, or, if usage is limited to FBWA, a
savings of over R350 000 in bulk water
purchases.
WEG-Wise Africa (Pty) Ltd.
19 ,Nebula Crescent
Blackheath 7580
South Africa
+27 21 9058058
wegwiseafrica.com
info@WEG-Wise.com

3. WEG-Wise MeterTalk© Case Study
METHODOLOGY & APPROACH
In recent years, there has been a strong drive
from South African government to attain basic
water and sanitation throughout the country to
prevent a looming health risks and
environmental pollution, particularly in
informal settlements. This has been widely
applauded and acknowledged. Despite these
efforts, it is widely recognised that inadequate
Operation and Maintenance (O&M) remains a
significant and common problem with regard
to the sustainability of basic services
provision.
The purpose of this methodology is to
establish a financial sustainable operation
and maintenance organisation for water and
sanitation.
A key component for the rural areas of this
approach is to select and train local people for
repair and maintenance water and sanitation
activities in households, creation of
awareness of water use, toilet use (paper and
flushing toilet) and hygienic behaviour,
improve billing services, revenue collection
and detection of leakages. The objectives
include identification, analysis, assessment
and discussion of practical water services
issues such as:
1. The awareness of the use of the free
basic water in the participating
households
2. To enable detection of irregular water
use and thus manage non-revenue
water / Unaccounted for Water (UAW)
These may occur through:
a. Water leakages
b. Illegal connections
c. Faulty water meters
3. WSA driven measures to reduce
water consumption, e.g. metering,
tariffs, reduction of losses, etc.
The approach of the action is outlined in three
phases:
1. Pre-implementation Phase:
Planning, initiate public
engagement strategy , selection
and training employees, SLA
contract municipality
2. Implementation Phase: repair
taps, toilets, installation of meters,
start collecting meter data
3. Maintenance Phase: Assessment
and comparative analysis versus
old situation of municipality
organisation, public engagement
and feedback
Figure Public participation process on
site
Figure Installation of a dynamic
gateway on site
Data Collection and Collation
The data collection process was undertaken
over a six month time period. Whilst the
Backoffice software collected data from each
limiter, the municipality collected its own data
from the households as per the standard
meter reading protocol. The data collection
undertaken by the municipality meter readers
was in no way influenced through this
projects data collection or by the back office
system or vice versa. The two processes
were completely autonomous as to maintain
an unbiased report. The data was collated
using a “Cloud” server based in the
Netherlands. The data was then accessed
using the Backoffice internet based software
and reports were then created when
required.
WEG-Wise Africa (Pty) Ltd.
19 ,Nebula Crescent
Blackheath 7580
South Africa
+27 21 9058058
wegwiseafrica.com
info@WEG-Wise.com

4. WEG-Wise MeterTalk© Case Study
In order to discuss the efficacy of the system
in managing the end consumers’ water usage,
an individual household was monitored using
the standard tools available on the Backoffice
programme and using the standard hardware
installed on the site.
The monthly cumulative flow profile of the
consumer was instantaneously acquired by
the Backoffice software. The cumulative
information is as easily produced for one
consumer as is for a predefined group and is
pivotal for the systems function.
The reported data will be utilised to produce
billing reports automatically for the predefined
area and number of consumers. As was the
case in this study, such data was grouped by
the software system in order to achieve one of
the objectives set out at the onset.
Figure A Monthly Cumulative Profile of
consumer X during the month of April 2013
amounting to 28 kiloliters.
We have produced a graphical report for
Consumer X which indicates an hourly flow
recording for the 24hr period on the 20th June.
The graph indicates a relatively high flow
pattern for a Saturday and deviates from the
norm considerably. The consumer was
questioned about the day in question and
indicated that an automatic washing machine
was run for 3 cycles before 11:00am. The
usage between 13:00pm and 18:00pm was
attributed to the filling of a bath and normal
household washing.
Figure Indicating the flow data for the 20th of
March 2013
The individual flow pattern associated with
this user was documented by the system
modelling software developers in Holland
and was constituted as normal. This
procedure was vital to mathematically
building a generalized flow profile for similar
consumers thereby creating a standardised
model. In the future, deviations from this
normal profile will be automatically flagged
as “unusual”. Excessive deviations from this
profile will be flagged for immediate
intervention by the home owner or service
provider and automatic notifications will be
sent to the respective party. Once the
flagging has occurred, suitable measures
can be taken either to remotely actuate the
limiter valve thereby reducing flow or
completely turning off the flow if required.
Such remote “two-way” communication
functionality is critical to an effective and
efficient water management system as has
been documented in collaborative studies.
Figure Indicates flow data for a week of the
year of consumer X. The variation between
the maximum and the minimum lines is
constituted by the daily variation in flow. This
can be explained through day to day
occurrences and routines which increase or
reduce flow.
Consumer X encountered a leak within the
property over a period of 5 days. The system
automatically profiled the leak over a 24hr
period and reported the internal reticulation
fault as depicted in the graphing that follows.
WEG-Wise Africa (Pty) Ltd.
19 ,Nebula Crescent
Blackheath 7580
South Africa
+27 21 9058058
wegwiseafrica.com
info@WEG-Wise.com