<h2>PORTSMOUTH WATER TO PROVIDE SMART METERING FOR NON REVENUE METERS USING THE INTERNET</h2>
The water supplier has agreed to work with Barter4Things, an Eastleigh based company, to provide instant data transmission back to the company using a custom-built IoT network. Intelligent water meters and software systems are provided by Metering Technology Solutions (MTS) of Henley On Thames. These technologies will enable Portsmouth Water’s customers to access water consumption and potential leaks daily. Spotting changes in flow this way will enable leaks to be repaired quickly – at present an underground water leak may not be identified for months until a meter reading is due.

Portsmouth Water is the first Water Company in the UK to embrace the use ‘Internet of Things’ (IoT) technology to provide Smart Metering and improve its service to customers.

Water companies have been told by the Government they must reduce leakage by 370 million litres a day within two years, and Portsmouth Water hopes this partnership will help reduce leakage levels and reduce costs and bills to customers.

Paul Barfoot, Head of Retail at Portsmouth Water said “We are delighted to be working with Barter4Things helping develop an innovative solution to improve customer service and help resolve some of the problems regarding water leakage. We hope this will mean real benefits that we can eventually pass on to our customers.”

Barter4Things has built 45 sites across Portsmouth Water’s supply area to transmit the data in real time. These sites cover an area of 800 sq. km/300 sq. miles. MTS is installing 500 new Itron meters and Birdz radio devices in existing boundary boxes to send the information back round-the-clock.

Eastleigh-based Barter4Things is southern England’s leading specialist IoT company, and operates a network of 120 sites covering Hampshire, West Sussex and the Isle of Wight. The network serves a number of customers operating in fields such as logistics and deliveries, facilities and estate management, and environmental services.
Barter4Things’ founder, Alex Barter, said the local IoT network will also be used for monitoring the location of vehicles and deliveries, checking on conditions within buildings or providing environmental measurements without necessitating a physical visit. He said, “The potential for businesses to reduce their compliance costs by using IoT technology is considerable, and we look forward to making the network available to many more local companies.”

B4T began building the local network two years ago, using technology developed initially by a global supplier, Sigfox, and carrier-grade service in partnership with WND-UK.

Reading-based Metering Technology Solutions (MTS) are the UK’s leading specialist in Automatic Metering Reading (AMR) and first to adopt IoT things technology into their portfolio.

MTS founder, Graham Whittaker says of the collaboration, “We have been preparing the water industry for the arrival of IoT for some time and are delighted to be the first in the UK to deliver its customer benefits. Working with Portsmouth Water and Barter4Things is a clear indictment of MTS strategy to provide ‘off the shelf’ digital networking AMR solutions. Our partner Birdz (a part of the Veolia Group of Companies worldwide) have once again enabled us to lead the UK Water market into the digital AMR arena. ”