Smart Water Metering
In the city of Terrassa, a series of sensors compatible with LoRa/LoRaWAN technologies are being deployed to measure water consumption in different parts of the city by the public water supply company Taigua.
This devices allows us to integrate the information generated in our Sentillo sensor platform and, with it at our disposal, to take the necessary decisions in the event of detecting anomalous situations, such as excessive consumption, zero consumption, leaks and others.
The sensor chosen for incorporation into our IoT network was the Cyble 5, from the company ITRON. It is a very robust sensor capable of working in severe situations, and in difficult environments, such as most of the places where water meters are located. It is able to withstand water, contaminants, corrosion, rough handling, and temperatur cycling for a preserved reliability over time.
This sensor is certified to work in LoRaWAN and Sigfox networks (in our case the compatibility with LoRaWAN in the European frequency band is enough). The device, once installed, allows us to carry out the digitalisation of the municipality's water network (although it can also be adapted to gas environments).
The Cyble 5 device is a compact sensor that incorporates a small antenna that allows it to be installed in a wide range of existing meter boxes.
It allows us to obtain information, alerts and diagnostics relating to:
- Billing and Consumption
- Leakage at Customer Side
- Tamper Attempt (dismantling)
- Blocked Meter (zero consumption)
- Oversize / Undersize
- Battery Level
- Clock Synchronisation
To configure the sensors once installed in the meter, it is necessary to have a mobile phone and a Master 5 RF antenna, which connects to the Cyble 5 module via the wireless M-Bus protocol. Communication between the mobile phone and the antenna is done by Bluetooth.
The antenna also enables meter readings via the Walk-By/Drive-By method -mobile readings on the move (Walk-by) or readings on the move using a vehicle (Drive-By)- although it is not a functionality that we will initially use in our implementation.
