Published:  25.1.2019

Water supply sector is now undergoing the same digital transformation which happened in energy sector already 15 years ago. New IoT technology and compatible smart meters are bringing the water supply to the digital age, and Digita is running dozens of pilot projects involving remote water metering around Finland.

”You could say that the digital revolution of the water supply has begun and, as the icing on the cake, Digita has had the privilege of being one of the drivers of this development. We have been creating an industry ecosystem that already enables waterworks to read the water meters of various properties remotely. There are approximately four million water meters in Finland, and it is our ambition to digitalise them all”, says Digita’s IoT Service Director Ari Kuukka.

”The digitalisation of the water supply is great news for consumers, as it will make residence-specific metering and invoicing easy. At the same time, being more aware of our consumption habits will let us change them for the better. Remote reading is also cost-effective for the providers, since no-one has to go read the meter and report the reading”, Kuukka says, listing the benefits of digitalisation.

In addition to Digita’s high-performance IoT network, the industry ecosystem requires smart water meter importers and distributors and system providers, who enable the storage of consumption data and invoicing on the basis of that data. “We work in close partnership with Onninen, Vesitieto and CGI”, says Kuukka.

Haminan Vesi was among the first to test the new technology in the Port of Hamina, for which the company ordered a batch of 100 meters in the early summer of 2018. In terms of water metering, remotely read meters are similar to currently used meters and display the reading locally in the device. In addition to this, the meter is equipped with a fixed LoRaWAN radio and battery that can sustain the wireless connection and remote reading of the meter for roughly ten years. The readings are normally transmitted once per day.

”We considered building our own network for Haminan Vesi, but opted for
Digita’s network since it appeared to be the safer choice. We have not regretted our decision. The results have been extremely promising and network coverage has been surprisingly good, even though the area’s network is not yet fully completed”, says Operations Engineer Kai
Veikkolainen of Haminan Vesi.

Remote metering frees working hours for other duties and enables better customer service. ”Within a few years, we will be able to provide daily consumption tracking, real-time invoicing and leak watch services to our customers, which would have been impossible with our current systems. Cooperation with Onninen, Digitan and Vesitieto enabled the fast lead- through of the project.”

Media contact:

Digita Oy, Ari Kuukka, Director, IoT services, tel. +358 40 149
7942, ari.kuukka(at)digita.fi

Haminan Vesi, Kai Veikkolainen, Operations Engineer, tel. +358 40 556
2120, kai.veikkolainen(at)hamina.fi

Digita
transmits radio and television programmes to everyone living in every corner of Finland every day of the year. We also apply the latest digital technology in order to develop and offer versatile online television and radio services. In addition, our service portfolio includes IoT services based on our comprehensive network, as well as world-class Data Center Services. Our clients include media companies as well as mobile and broadband operators offering first-class content.

Haminan Vesi is a public utility company owned by the City of Hamina, responsible for water supply and sewerage services in its operating area. Haminan Vesi began operations as a public utility company in 2009. The company obtains its water mainly from Kymenlaakson Vesi Oy, but also supplements this supply with a reserve of its own groundwater intake plants.