SINGAPORE – Smart water meters will be installed in 300,000 residential and commercial premises here by 2023, with an eventual goal of having such devices islandwide, national water agency PUB announced on Friday (April 12).

This will help people and companies keep tabs on their water usage, while allowing the PUB to optimise resources as well as detect anomalies, such as leaks, early.

“Our challenge in PUB is to give our customers the water equivalent of the speedometer and fuel gauge, and so empower them to become smarter users of water,” said PUB chief executive Ng Joo Hee.

The digital smart water meter would be just the thing do this, he added.

“Enabled by information on tap, something previously unavailable to end-consumers, we are convinced that they will be able to meaningfully adjust behaviour and become more efficient consumers, saving water and money in the process.”

There are currently some 1.6 million water meters at premises across the island. These are read manually once every two months.

Customers are billed every month, with their water consumption estimated every alternate month.

With smart water meters, water consumption will be read automatically several times a day, and transmitted accurately and remotely back to PUB on a daily basis.

The agency said this will improve resource efficiency and augment PUB’s capabilities in early leak detection within the water supply network and in customers’ premises.

Through a mobile application or online portal, every customer will have ready access to their daily water usage data. They will also receive high usage notifications and leak alerts promptly.

Pilot trials in Punggol and Yuhua earlier showed promising results.

A total of 800 households reported an average of 5 per cent in water savings, said PUB.

PUB on Friday called a tender to appoint an Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) Specialist to evaluate and advise on meter devices and technology, and communications protocol, as well as to provide insights for enhancing operational efficiency and water savings.

It will then call the tender for the installation of around 300,000 smart water meters early next year, and the first smart water meters will be installed by early 2021.

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