According to a Global Market Insights report, the US smart water meter market is positioned to exceed $14 billion in value over the next seven years. In addition, the smart metering market size from Automatic Meter Reading (AMR) is projected to surpass 50 million units during that same timeframe. The encouraging forecast appears to be bolstered by enhancements made in metering accuracy, along with the rising demand for savings in billing. Throw in optimization of operational costs, and this is expected to further boost demand for these products and further assist in preserving resources at consumer-friendly prices.
The heightened demand for these smart water metering systems can be traced back to incorporating the expansion of a water pipeline network with the development of smart grid infrastructure. Growth will be stimulated by applying efficient measures towards monitoring and controlling non-revenue water as well.
Hopes are high that the demand in automatic reading systems will increase owing to widespread adoption of technology. Having said that, concerns surrounding cyber and data security pertaining to tracking consumption along with unwillingness of customers could slow business growth. One of the ways to combat this potential flaw is by applying strict regulations towards water conservation and improve billing accuracy. Throw in the aspect of rising customer awareness, and this should ultimately result in the market growth the smart water metering industry is expecting.
To encourage the adoption of intelligent systems (like smart water metering), the smart grid investment grant (SGIG) was funded by the Department of Energy and American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009. The first community to implement these systems was Glendale, Arizona in an effort to develop a smart grid network to better manage the community’s utilities, while being able to effectively respond to unexpected challenges like droughts.
While the commercial smart water meter market is expected to witness growth surpassing 15 percent during the aforementioned projections, there are concerns regarding control of overhead expenses like water bills, which can affect a commercial establishment’s profitability. An example of this can be seen in China, which comprised over 55 percent of the Asia Pacific smart water meter market share in 2016.
Five years ago, China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) revealed the 12th five-year plan that focused on developing intelligent grids for households and cities—all under the proposed blueprint that involved investment $294 billion towards these water resources projects. The plan’s conditions had pricing policies implemented for water in most municipal utilities, prompting the need for a padded deployment of these particular products throughout the region.
Filed Under: M2M (machine to machine)
