The Challenges

The client wanted to integrate CDMA based water meter with Azure cloud to create a smart water metering architecture capable to track real-time water consumption. The data has to be collected from domestic water meters across US through Automatic Meter Reading (AMR) via CDMA chips and Verizon wireless network. With about 500,000 water meters installed, the core challenge meant collecting water flow readings from meters in minimum time utilized for two-way communication and hence increasing the life of battery powering the smart water meters.

To enable data collection at large with minimized infrastructure cost, the client wanted to implement Smart Water Metering system using IoT. This system will integrate CDMA based water meters with cloud, creating an Internet of Things (IoT) environment. This IoT based Smart water metering system should utilize Azure Cloud services to integrate with sensors placed on Smart Water Meters to communicate. This data has the potential to offer analytics to both customers as well as the client. It helps determine water consumption at real-time; screen defaulter from over consumption of water resource; load balancing based on water consumption need in different regions/groups; frame stratagems for saving water resource across the US region.

Mushtaque Ahmed

Mark S
VP - Operations | Leading manufacturing & utilities company, US

clutch Review

"Our team at Saviant inherited a complex Azure project and has helped us tremendously in reaching our goals."

Building scalable & robust Smart Water Metering system using IoT

Microsoft Azure (IaaS and PaaS), Azure IoT Hub, Verizon Wireless Network, MVC, Azure Tables, Azure Service Bus Queue

Saviant is one of those few Cloud experts who have pushed the envelop to build cutting-edge custom Azure IoT solutions and delivers custom solutions for Water Utilities. Our IoT consulting team created the robust architecture around Smart water metering that communicates with Verizon Wireless Network and backed by strong data analytical engine on Azure. The team implemented a fast and secured data processing using Service Bus, Worker Role and Azure Tables. This helped create a high performance IoT Architecture to process data from 500,000 meters every day with accounts to a mere 5% of the implemented system’s capacity.

The IoT based Smart Water Metering system provides real-time visibility over water consumption to consumers and Utilities. The solution comprises of a multi-tenant web portal for Utility companies and mobile apps for Consumers - to view the captured data. With the data analytics engine in place, the system also generates analytics for the users to get real-time insights on water consumption. It is designed to generate 22 alerts on conditions/anomalies such as over consumption of water resource, billing, leakage detection to name a few. The system features two-way communication between Cloud Service and CDMA based water meters with communication time locked at 200-300 millisecond. The VN Server and Azure Storage serves as the meter data management system (MDMS) for the VN system. Utilities can also monitor the health of smart meters through this robust IoT solution.

22+

Alerts on Conditions/Anomalies gets generated by the Data analytics engine. Alerts include over consumption of water resource, billing, leakage detection, theft, etc.

Cloud-based Metering and Smart Analytics solution
IoT based Smart Water Metering Architecture diagram

Result

Connects 500,000 Smart Meters

to cloud with robust system built around Smart water metering using IoT.

Reduces communication time

to mere 200-300ms even when data reading frequency was increased to every 5 minutes instead of hourly basis.

Real-time visibility

into water consumption patterns for Utilities and its Consumers to control the water usage

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