Water meter inaccuracy assessment and operation control considering customer information

Abstract

Water Meter Inaccuracy (WMI) is one of the apparent loss components contributing to an increase in non-revenue water. The estimation of the volume of water lost due to WMI and control within a utility is still a challenge; thus, the current study investigated its field operation using customer consumption records. A few studies estimated WMI using data obtained in a controlled experimental environment; however, WMI assessment requires a significant computation that includes unforeseen field fault operating environment. This study is of the view that experimental results are necessary for meter type selection, based on the designed flow characteristics and proposes a WMI assessment and control approach in which the field under- or over-registering meters are identified in a billing system. The analysis of this study reveals that a utility operation environment, economic factor and social trust can be efficiently improved using customers water consumption records.