Water Meters Project

SHIRPUR-WARWADE MUNICIPAL COUNCIL, SHIRPUR-425405, DIST. DHULE, MAHARASHTR, INDIA:

Shirpur located in the north Maharashtra became the first town in India to have 100% metered connections for water supply across the town in 2018. Shirpur-Warwade Municipal Council (SWMC) helped its residents take their big leap towards a sustainable water future when they incorporated to Kamstrup's smart water metering solution (Sujal Tech - Balrajtech) as part of the milestone project of establishing 24 x 7 water supply.

This step mitigated many problems at grass-root level, including billing issues, misreadings and keeping a tab on water wastage in households and commercial establishments. With the incorporation of ultrasonic smart water meters and automatic meter reading solution, SWMC was able to: 1. Reduce the billing cycle by 1/3rd; 2. Save 4 million litres of water each day; 3. Record 100% revenue collection post meter installation; 4. Manage field service and customer complaints efficiently.

Kamstrup smart meters (Sujal Tech - Balrajtech) overcome the shortcomings of traditional meters like air measurement, low flow challenges and re-calibration and repair every few years. In addition to their life-long pinpoint accuracy, the benefits include smart alarms that detect incidents like leak, burst and tamper. And the robust Automatic Meter Reading (AMR) solution drastically reduces manual efforts and risks of human error. Thereby, building transparency and efficiency in delivery.

Since the beginning of meter installation in 2014, Sujal Tech - Balrajtech has been actively involved with SWMC as a change management partner. This included conducting training sessions and reading trials for council employees to empower them with grievance handling and preparing consumer demos to ensure transparency and trust between the council and its customers.

The actual installation was also a challenge. Narrow lanes and dense housing infrastructure, made it impossible to install meters in the traditional horizontal position. However, due to ultrasonic technology, Kamstrup meters work equally well in any direction and could, therefore, be installed in vertical position.

Daily water supply reduced by 33% and with the smart metering solution, they are now recording, monthly readings and issuing quarterly bills based on volume consumption, which has benefited both SWMC and Shirpur citizens.

Shirpur citizens, after seeing their exact consumption reading being billed, are now committed to conserving water.