High-performance smart metering across topographies

Severn Trent's strategic drinking water plan balances supply and demand, investing wisely to safeguard the water supply for future generations.

As with many other water utility companies in the UK, Severn Trent has been rolling out an AMR (Automatic Meter Reading) solution but is also thinking about AMI (Advanced Metering Infrastructure) technology developments and the additional benefits that it could generate for their wider business.

The first step in the AMI journey at Severn Trent was to investigate whether there was a smart metering solution suitable to their requirements. To respond to such a fundamental question, Severn Trent challenged the industry to provide a solution that could work across the different environments in their region, from rural to urban.

Furthermore, Severn Trent wanted to assess whether it would be possible to deploy such a solution based only on their assets, i.e. their properties. This is a good question that the industry had not tested before, making this trial even more exciting and testing.

The trial was conducted in and around Nottingham as the area was representative of the challenges existing across the whole Severn Trent supply area.

Four WIZE network gateway sites were implemented, and each was equipped with one or two antennae depending on the expected contribution and need to generate directional propagation. Diehl WIZE meters were fitted, pre-assembled and preactivated, allowing for the most straightforward process installation and immediate connection to the SUEZ On’Connect™ platform.

The meters transmit encrypted readings via the WIZE network to the SUEZ On’Connect™ system. The data is unencrypted, validated and deciphered by the platform before onward transmission to the Temetra platform twice a day.

• WIZE was the only solution that proved viable for the rural areas as well as the urban and suburban

• 98.8% average performance with nominal variation due to the different terrains

• On average, 23.3 hourly readings available daily per meter

• 100% of the meters installed in narrow boundary boxes

• All of the network was based on Severn Trent properties

• The system was integrated into existing Temetra MDM

• The field engineers found the meter installation to be simple and quick

• 14% of properties included in the WIZE trial were found to have leaks

• An unexpected benefit was the ability to understand the changes in water usage behaviour during the first lock-down back in 2020 which provided Severn Trent with assistance in supply and demand planning.