ADD Grup has been developing smart metering solutions for resources for more than 24 years. Why are we talking about resources in general? Few years ago ADD Grup engineers started to develop ultrasonic smart water meter. In February 2022, the company received an international certificate for its ADDRA water meter according to the MID measuring instruments directive. This made it possible to sell the water meter to a large number of countries around the world, primarily in Europe, the Middle East, and Latin America. Moreover, there is interest from partners from North America, in particular from Canada.
ADD Grup started thinking about water metering systems a long time ago, 15-17 years ago. Initially, there was an idea to integrate meters from other manufacturers into our electricity metering system in order to transmit data on their readings. At that time, this could have been applicable for those countries where the same supplier provides consumers with both electricity and water.
The task of ADD Grup was not only to provide metering of water, but to also allow the system to manage water supply: to be able to turn off/on the resource or limit its consumption. It became possible to implement this only with the help of shut off valve, which works in pair with the water meter, this combination being unique for European market.
What are the benefits of using a shut off valve?
Unlike electricity meters, which are located usually outside apartments, there is no free access to water meters. Therefore, only the shut off valve makes it possible to disconnect a consumer for non-payment. Prior to this, such an action was a very difficult procedure, only with the call of technical support and bailiffs. With ADD Grup smart water meters, all you need to do is press one button on your computer.
The shut off valve also provides other features that are very useful in some countries (such as Italy) where it is not legal to turn off consumers for non-payment. But, using our water meter, you can LIMIT the amount of water. ADD Grup provides a similar tool in which the valve can be closed 50% or 90% for example. No one can prohibit the restriction of water supplies to the users, if, at the same time, their minimum needs (to drink and cook food) are provided.
Also, limiting consumption is especially important during dry periods of the year, when rivers dry up, and the available amount of water is not enough for all consumers.
There are immediate benefits of using a shut off valve in water meters for the end user as well. A smart meter from ADD Grup allows you to register a breakthrough or leakage of water.
For example, the most common problem is leakage from the toilet, when a small stream of water flows constantly and being unnoticed can lead to substantial losses. If smart meter registers a similar situation or a burst, then it can give a command to the shut off valve for an emergency shutdown. Most often this situation occurs when consumers are not at home.
A smart water meter can respond to an emergency either on its own or at the request of a utility company. The consumer directly learns about this through his personal account on the website of the water utility or through the application on his smartphone. A similar application is currently being developed by ADD Grup engineers.
Also, smart water meters have a Bluetooth interface that allows users from a distance of up to 10 meters, to get connect and get the required information.
Considering the above functionality ADDRA water metering solution can be truly considered a water metering and management system unlike majority of competitive solutions where it is only about AMR or remote meter reading.
Contact us at info@addgrup.com for more information about our products.
