AWWA ACE10 Attendees Reveal AMI, Smart Meter Priorities
Water utilities are seeking accuracy, reliability and minimal maintenance requirements in a smart water management system. In a survey distributed by Sensus to attendees at the recent American Water Works Association’s (AWWA) ACE10 conference in Chicago, respondents ranked their most important factors when choosing a water management system including advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) and smart meter components.
According to the survey results:
- Respondents named flow measurement capability and lifetime accuracy as the most important factors when evaluating an intelligent water management system.
- 85 percent of respondents ranked ease of installation and maintenance as very important factors in choosing a water management system.
- 86 percent of respondents ranked total life expectancy of the system as very important.
- 41 percent of respondents already have a water management system, 47 percent plan to implement a water management in the next three months to two years.
While a majority of respondents from public water utilities have already implemented AMI and smart metering systems or have plans to implement such systems within the next two years, only 12 percent of respondents with no significant plans to deploy these technologies are indicative of the remaining concerns that utilities have regarding the costs and benefits of implementing a smart water management system. Reputation of manufacturer was ranked as the third most important consideration when choosing a system, underscoring the importance utilities place on working with a trusted partner offering a tested, proven solution for smarter water management.
Mike Tracy, vice president for North American water for Sensus, said, “The results of the survey confirmed that low flow, accurate water management systems are what resonate with today’s utilities.”
The least important factors included the price of equipment and whether the AMI and metering solutions were available from one supplier. “The industry is obviously prioritizing real value over pure price when technology investment decisions are being considered,” said Tracy.
More than 250 industry professionals completed the survey while visiting the Sensus booth.