AquaSMART: Innovative self-powered, remotely controlled water meter for leak/flood prevention
Lead Participant:
AQUA COMMAND LTD
Abstract
Over 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
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
Lead Participant | Project Cost | Grant Offer |
|---|---|---|
| AQUA COMMAND LTD | £163,784 | £ 98,270 |
People |
ORCID iD |
| Phil Vantenac (Project Manager) |