FEWA opts for smart metering to reduce non-revenue water

Etihad Water & Electricity, formerly known as the Federal Electricity and Water Authority (FEWA) is one of the leading utilities in UAE serving over 350,000 connections in the northern Emirates of Ajman, Fujaira, Umm Al Quain and Ras Al Khaima. FEWA decided to take a major step of switching to smart water meters in order to reduce Non-revenue water in their water distribution infrastructure. Earlier, using mechanical meters to track water consumption would result in a lot of wear and tear, therefore frequent need of meter replacement and inaccurate meter readings.

Need for an effective solution

Owing to the numerous challenges faced with mechanical meters, FEWA decided to look for a solution that will not only solve the problem of tracking water consumption accurately but also help optimize their daily operations and result in cost savings in the long run. Therefore, they selected Kamstrup’s ultrasonic smart water meter flowIQ® 2101 for their connections. 
With different requirements for meter readings based on their field service and operations, FEWA chose a combination of wired and wireless meter reading solution from Kamstrup. We have been supplying smart water meters in different phases since 2017 till date. They installed Wired M-Bus meters to read meters via Wired M-Bus system on later stage where on the other hand they installed Wireless M-Bus meters in Villas to read meters via Fixed network solution in future.

Key product features

flowIQ® 2101 is an ultrasonic water meter optimized for residential use. Contrary to traditional mechanical meters, flowIQ® 2101 is a static meter protected against water ingress with no moving parts. Therefore, it maintains a high and stable accuracy throughout its lifetime of up to 16 years. flowIQ® 2101 has a very low error margin, an industry-leading accuracy and an optimized low start flow which ensures that even the smallest consumption is measured accurately. Intelligent alarms from the ultrasonic water meter lets you detect leaks and bursts or other irregularities such as tampering attempts or reverse flows quickly and effectively. This limits water loss as well as any collateral damage and enables you to provide a more proactive customer service.

FEWA expected that an upgrade to smart ultrasonic meters will result in getting precise water consumption data, that will help them improve their billing process, thereby resulting in a better customer service. Reality is much better than what was expected. Since their installation, Kamstrup meters have been providing accurate consumption data every month, which has helped FEWA ease their operations and maintenance process. The reliable data received from the meters has resulted in improved customer service and reduced field visits for conflict resolution with their customers thereby reducing customer complaints significantly. Moreover, they are able to account for all the water supplied which was earlier lost to leakages or went unaccounted for, thereby resulting in reducing non-revenue water and costs savings. Besides, the onsite sales and service support from Kamstrup has instilled confidence in the utility that they not only have the right product for their needs but also the most competent supplier in the market.

• Name of the utility: Federal Electricity and Water Authority (FEWA)
• Kamstrup solution: flowIQ® 2101 ultrasonic water meters with wired and wireless M-bus reading system
• Number of metering points: 93,000
• Timeframe of the project: June 2017 onwards