As of the 2020’s in many countries, utilities are still remaining in the early conditions. Software applications are fragmented, standalone and not integrated. Sensors in the distribution system, automated valves and smart pumps are still haphazard. SCADA systems are not available or only partially covering the systems. The application of GIS for the registry and mapping of underground and surface assets is not yet applied everywhere.
Meter reading, billing and collection is a good example of a highly routinized process which is extremely suitable for automation. However, many utilities are confronted with the legal / regulatory requirement of physical monthly meter reading, monthly invoicing and monthly collection of revenues. Often the bills are printed and sent by postal mail to customer addresses. The manual process is quite inefficient, costly and vulnerable for administrative errors and lack of transparency. Annual self-reading, digital water metering, and automated billing are still not accepted practices in many countries.
The lack of measuring and data collection on flow and pressure in water supply systems leads to poor water balance calculations and wrong estimates of non-revenue water (physical water loss and administrative loss).
Water Utility managers have perhaps grown too comfortable with their conventional systems and stationarity. It could be expected that clients and stakeholders increasingly demand for change and transparency. Regulatory bodies also have to anticipate, and they could even contribute to acceleration by changing the rules and by the ways that performance data should be made available. The new era demands that the old utility business model is to be turned inside out.
For further reading, please refer to the following documents:
