BENEFIT

OF WATER
METERING
Challenges of Individual Water Metering
Typical
Plumbing
system in
Apartment
Complex
• Trying to measure water consumption in an apartment involves installing
water meters at each PoE, along with the difficulties of reading the meters,
consolidating and maintaining them, thus making it a no feasible metering
solution

like PGA Drawbacks:

• Single Pipe feeding multiple apartments at different floors

• Each Apartment has multiple Points of Entry (PoE)

• Residents pay water bills on flat rates, divided equally among members
irrespective of family size
• No motivation for water conversation.
Individual • Individual control of water for each flat at the

metering of each roof, thus ease of maintenance of a flat without

effecting the supply of other flats

flat/apartment
USE CASES
Floriana Estates Apartment,
a 19-year-old building in
Koramangala

Statistics showed the

• top 30% of consumers accounted for 50% of the water
consumption,
• another 30% were average consumers, and the remaining
40% of consumers were frugal who benefitted the most
from pay-as-you-use billing.
• The residents have become more responsible, which led to
approximately 20% overall reduction in water usage. This
shift towards consumer-driven water conservation
initiatives transformed the whole project into a success
story.
TECHNOLOGY
• The chosen vendor used an ultrasonic flow sensor (an IoT device), ensuring
precise measurement and eliminating any moving parts that could disrupt
water flow and pressure. This system was installed at the distribution point on
the terrace by Urban Civic and was accompanied by a valve for each
apartment:
• The flow sensor has a cell with a life of 7 years
• Transmits the data through 2.4 Ghz Wifi spectrum to an aggregator unit,
installed at a convenient location to receive signals
• One aggregator can support up to 50 sensors, which are in turn connected to
the cloud server using a 4G connection
• The flow sensor has storage capabilities too, which helps in sending the data
out later, in the event of any communication failures to the cloud server
• The data collected from the sensors are sent to the server and is available for
the MC to monitor
• The portal has the capability of sending alarms when it detects a leak/open
tap, which are also sent to the users via SMS/email
• The user has the option of using the app to monitor their daily water
consumption and aggregate of a period
In Mahaveer Seasons
apartment in HSR
Layout

• internal metering was implemented about

three years ago. It reduced water
consumption by 30-35%, says apartment
resident Kamesh Rastogi. But the
implementation did come with some initial
challenges in this 120-unit complex. The
apartment had been built around 2005,
and there was no separate piping to
individual houses, which is necessary to
measure consumption by each flat.
 A 26-unit complex in Ulsoor,
implemented metering about two years
ago. Water consumption reduced by at
least 30%, and even up to 50% in the case
of some flats, says resident Avinash
Hegde. Power consumption for pumping
Sundale water has also reduced substantially.
Apartments, Here too, the piping had to be changed as
it was old and because each flat had 4-5
inlets. The cost came to around Rs 20,000
per apartment. As per Avinash’s
calculations, in another year, there would
be returns on investment, due to the
water and power
 • in May 2020, BWSSB introduced a new regulation that
mandates internal water meters for every flat in apartment
complexes. Each apartment is responsible for installing
these meters within their premises.
• Individual water meters compulsory, but no penalty yet
• According to the new regulation 43-A added to BWSSB
Water Supply Regulations, 1965, internal water meters
should be installed in:
• all existing buildings with three or more houses, located in
sital area of 2,400 sq ft or more, and
• upcoming buildings with three or more houses, located in
sital area of 1,200 sq ft or more
• This is for “judicious consumption of water”, and should be

BWSSB now done within the date notified by the state government, says
the regulation. It adds that readings of the internal meters

mandates
shouldn’t be used for calculating BWSSB bills, or to dispute
BWSSB’s bulk meter reading in any legal proceedings. The
regulations currently don’t mention any penalty for non-
apartments to install implementation.

internal water
meters
Recommendation
• New water supply piping with ducting to each flat with dedicated on-off
supply valve.
• Flowmeter with ethernet connection and Modbus to PC (most cost effective )
• Web App which all flat owners will have access to see usage and billing.
• Implementation
• through vendor
• Do it inhouse with plumber and university students ( 40% cost saving)
Estimated cost ~ 12K to 15K per flat
Benefit -> 30% water saving ( so no need to have tankers supply in summer as
well as 30% cost saving for bore well pump) means reduced maintenance cost.
Fair pay per use policy. So we will recover the money in approx. 2 years.
List of Vendors
1. Smarter Homes (Provides 3 technology variants – Daisy-linked / GSM / RF) • Contact Person : Mr. Jitender Thirwani, VP, Business Development

• Email ID : jitender.thirwani@smarterhomes.com
• Mobile No. : +91 99180 07770

2. WeGot (Ultrasonic meters, daisy linked to aggregator/s) • Contact Person : Mr. Abilash Haridas, Co-Founder
• Email ID : abilash@wegot.in
• Mobile No. : +91 98843 32714

3. Third-I Inventech (Mechanical flow meters linked to GSM) • Contact Person : Mr. Makarand Vairagare, Chief – Strategic Initiatives
• Email ID : makarand@tiiindia.in
• Mobile No. : +91 98605 60714

4. Agua Water Meters (Single Jet meters & RF Technology)

• Email ID : info@aguaws.com
• Phone No. : +91 80 50001151
REFERANCE

• REPORT ON WATER METERING TO REDUCE 30% WATER

CONSUMPTION MADE BY BANGALORE APARTMENTS’ FEDERATION
(BAF)
• Citizenmatters.in