One of Australia's largest digital meter rollouts hits new milestone

澳大利亚智能水表标杆项目落地 – 澳洲水务发展新里程碑

South East Water is approaching a milestone 30,000 IoT-enabled digital meters in households across Melbourne's south east, helping customers manage water use and detect leaks. So far the new technology has helped customers find leaks they didn't know they had, saving on average $150 in unnecessary usage charges, and reducing water wastage.

澳大利亚东南水务公司为墨尔本东南部近30000户居民安装了物联网智能超声水表，具有里程碑意义。这些水表能够帮助用户进行用水管理并检查管道漏损，尤其是发现此前难以查找的未知漏损。目前，此项新技术已经帮助用户平均节省了150澳元非必要费用，并且减少了水资源浪费。

South East Water has now installed more digital meters in metropolitan Melbourne than any other water utility, in what is one of the largest digital meter rollouts in Australia. Installations are free and voluntary for all customers.

东南水务公司在自愿基础上为用户免费安装智能超声水表，在墨尔本市区的安装数量远超其他水务公司，打造了当地智能超声水表部署项目的标杆。

By installing the meters across a wide range of geographic areas, customer groups and housing types, South East Water has been able to thoroughly test the new technology and validate the key assumptions that underpin its digital strategy.

东南水务公司在安装智能超声水表时充分考虑了地域特点、用户群体和住宅类型，进而可以对此项新技术进行充分测试，并验证其“数字战略”的关键性假设。

The initiative is part of a broader metropolitan Melbourne joint digital metering trial with Greater Western Water and Yarra Valley Water.

该项目是东南水务公司与西部水务公司和雅拉河谷水务公司联合发起的大墨尔本区域数字计量改革的重要环节。

What are the benefits of digital water meters?

智能超声水表的优势是什么？

The meters provide near real-time water use information, helping South East Water operate the assets more efficiently.

智能超声水表可以提供接近实时的用水信息，助力东南水务公司的设备高效运行。

They also help to detect leaks before they turn to bursts, so customers aren't disrupted with outages. It's led to a more efficient, reliable service that can lead to lower customer bills.

智能超声水表能够在爆管前检测到漏损现象，这样用户就不会因停水维修而受到影响。这一方案使东南水务公司能够为客户节约非必要费用，并提供更高效、更可靠的服务。

“The year ahead is exciting for us as we continue to scale out the IoT digital reading devices across our customer and network assets, and we have only just scratched the surface regarding the insights we'll get,” said South East Water General Manager Digital Utilities, Andrew Forster-Knight.

东南水务公司数字公用事业部总经理安德鲁先生表示：“未来一年我们将继续扩大物联网智能设备在管网中的部署，目前的成果仅仅是可预见的一小部分，这令人十分激动”。

“We're finding that thanks to digital meters, customers are able to check their daily water usage via a customer portal rather than waiting three months for their bill.

In addition, between 3 and 5 per cent of households have a leak that they weren't aware of. Once we've notified them of this, they can repair the leak before it makes a considerable impact on everyday life.

In fact, locating and fixing a leak early is preventing an average of $150 of usage charges being added to bills, so there are considerable savings to be made thanks to this technology.”

-Andrew Forster-Knight, General Manager Digital Utilities

“安装智能超声水表之后，客户可以每天查看用水情况，而不用像往常一样等待季度账单。此外，大约3-5%的用户存在隐藏的漏损情况，我们发现并通知用户后，他们可以及时进行维修，避免对日常生活造成进一步影响。事实上，及早定位并修复漏损可以为用户平均节省150澳元的非必要费用，证明了这项新技术的经济价值。”安德鲁先生说。

Case study: Saving water and money for customer-digital metering in action

案例研究：为用户“省水”“省钱” – 数字计量在行动

One of South East Water's digital meters sprang into action on an Aquarevo property in Lyndburst finding a major water leakage of 27,960 litres over a 24-hour period which have cost the customer almost $10,000.

东南水务公司在Lyndburst的一处物业中安装了智能超声水表。水表上报数据显示该处物业在24小时内管道漏损高达27960升，用户损失近10000澳元。

With the property still in the early stages of construction, the meter's high pressure and continuous flow alarms went off, sending real-time information about the property's water loss straight to South East Water. After contacting the customer to let them know about the issue so they could fix it quickly to save both water and money the customer confirmed that their builder wasn't aware of the damage or the leak.

该处物业仍处于建设初期，水表发出的高压警报和持续流量警报直接发送至东南水务公司。经与该用户联系，漏损得到了及时修复。然而，用户表示建筑商之前并未发现管道损坏或漏损现象。

If it wasn't for the digital meter picking up the leak, it would have continued until it was either physically visible on the property and/or when the customer received their high water bill, causing bill shock. With the next bill due 85 days away the customer saved 2,376,600 litres in wasted water and a $9,821 water usage charge. It also may have prevented damage to the property, causing building delays.

如果不是水表及时报警，那么漏损将一直持续，直到扩大至肉眼可见程度，或者在用户收到“吓人”的账单之时。下个账单周期还有85天，用户将合计“省水”2376600升，“省钱”9821澳元，同时避免了因漏水破坏房屋造成的工程延期风险。

The initiative is part of a broader program by South East Water to continually improve the water service through technology.

该项目是东南水务“以技术赋能供水服务”计划中的重要一环。

South East Water's digital transformation journey started several years ago as a way to empower customers with more information about how and when they use water. 

东南水务公司几年前就开始了其“数字化转型”之旅，旨在通过更多更详细的用水数据为用户赋能。

With automated leak alerts and greater visibility of usage patterns, customers have been able to manage their usage and bills more efficiently. 

通过自动漏损报警和可视化用水分析，用户能够更好地管理用水习惯并节约水费。

By collecting data from water and wastewater networks, South East Water has also been able to gain valuable new insights into how their assets operate. The unique sensors, embedded directly into meters or placed on other network assets, have provided insights about how the network performs and how faults can be managed more efficiently. 

东南水务公司通过供水管网和废水管网的数据能够更加深入研究设备高效运营的新方法。配置了特殊传感器的水表和管网设备，为管网更高效的运行和更有效地处理故障问题提供了方案。

An example, the Sotto® vibration sensor constantly monitors the network, locating leaks before the customer is even aware. Previously, leaks were only identified when a customer called. The new technology leads to not only a better experience for the customer, but also lower costs across the network.

例如，Scotto®振动传感器通过对管网的持续检测，可在用户发现漏损之前定位其位置，而以前只有在用户联系水务公司时才能发现漏损。此项技术不仅给用户带来了更优质的使用体验，还降低了管网运营成本。

With Victoria's population set to grow to an estimated 10 million people by 2051, and with a warming climate and less rain, water conservation measures such as these will become increasingly important. 

据预测，维多利亚州人口到2051年将增长到1000万，并伴随着气候变暖和降水减少。因此类似的节水措施将变得尤为重要。

What's next?

未来规划

Now that South East Water has installed almost 30,000 digital meters working across the network, the next ‘build and scale’ phase will get underway in 2022.

目前，东南水务公司已经安装了近30000台智能超声水表，下阶段大批量部署将在2022年进行。

原文链接：https://southeastwater.com.au/about-us/news/digital-meter-milestone/