710850AquaSMART: Innovative self-powered, remotely controlled water meter for leak/flood preventionClosedGRD Proof of ConceptInnovate UKOver the past 10 yrs UK water bills have risen above inflation levels, a further increase is predicated due to planned investment in the water network (£44bn by 2020) & increasing demand (an extra 800M litres/day by 2020). An additional upward pressure is placed on bills by Escape of Water -EoW which costs UK Insurers £2M every day and accounts for the up to 45K litres of water each year from the average houshold. Research has shown that water meters can cut consumption by 15% (£58p.a./household, avg. bill £385). The majority of the UK water meter market (75%) is made up of low cost (~£100) meters supplied by Arad, Sensus, Elster, Itron which are powered by rechargeable batteries & thus are limited as they do not have adequate power for effective leak/flood prevention to address the significant issue of EoW. These limitations are recognised within the industry, as evidenced by Aqua Command Limited’s (ACL) independent research, which involved extensive consultation with ~30 end users. To address the major business opportunity for a low cost water meter with leak/flood prevention, ACL is seeking to the develop AquaSMART: Advantages: - First meter to be self-powered by a combination of power sources (turbine, thermoelectric electric generator (TEG) & water battery) providing sufficient power for leak/flood prevention - Low cost (£100/meter) compared to best in class IntelliH20 (£300/meter) - Improved data granularity to detect small leaks –measures usage down to 100ml/minute, existing meters only measure usage to 570ml/minute With support from IUK, this project aims explore the feasibility of using a combination of power sources; deliver a basic prototype of AquaSMART incl. novel hardware, software & firmware components; & complete PoC testing. If successful the technology offer significant benefit to households, utility companies, Insurers and house builders with potential application as a monitoring tool for assisted living