One of the key pain points with standard water meter monitoring is time and manpower. A traditional approach to water metering is for the man, or woman, to come to your house, note down the latest number, and leave. A second approach is for the information to be collected remotely via an operator, later uploaded to a central system. Both approaches are hit and miss (and reactive, rather than proactive).
Neither are essentially bad tactics. They work, but there is a higher performance level available through IoT and real-time connected devices, which is better for all. It is possible to remotely monitor water supply without a lurking man in a van, or a harried stranger knocking on your door, deathly afraid of your dog.
NB-IoT & LoRaWAN allow long-range, low-power communication, perfect for dispersed water meters in residential blocks. This approach eliminates costly SIM-based cellular solutions, reduces battery drain and improves lifecycle efficiency (10+ years). Companies like Kamstrup, Itron, and Diehl embed this tech into their smart meters.
IoT-enabled meters analyze flow patterns to detect leaks, tampering, or unusual usage. You can predict pipe failures before they happen by correlating pressure data with historical patterns. Big utilities pair meter data with real-time mapping of their network. This gives more “fluidity” to the information flow. No need for constant cloud connections; edge computing only transmits when specific anomalies are detected.
Your biggest advantage is replacing manual modbus monitoring with network-based remote reading. Taking a traditional modbus (wireless monitoring tool) and converting it into an IoT gateway allows legacy meters to go smart without full replacement. Companies using Bluetooth or 1-Wire bridges for mobile walk-by readings are already gaining ground, simply because they are more effective at the key task; recording accurate readings at scale.
The last point bears repeating: IIoT is specifically geared to scaled communication. The process of reading meters (of all kinds) across a wide physical domain is the perfect scenario. Because the key players in most water distribution sectors are local councils and municipalities, that scale is already supplied.
