For many businesses, it isn’t feasible to check and submit your water meter reads on a daily, weekly or monthly basis but if you want to take control of your water consumption, take a look at why your business may want to consider an automatic meter reader (AMR) and the benefits they could bring.
What is an Automatic Meter Reader?
Automatic Meter Readers are a data collection device that are attached to your water meter via a pulse cable. This cable transfers data through the global system mobile (GSM) network into our data presentment portal ‘Watercore’. You can then see your business’ data either within 24 hours or sometimes as quickly as 15 minutes, depending on the AMR.
This allows you to effectively manage your water consumption levels 24 hours a day and spot any unexpected increases or abnormalities, meaning your business can help limit both financial and operational risks. The quicker you’re alerted to any unexpected usage, the more effectively you can manage and resolve the issue with the help of our leak detection services.
Why do businesses choose Automatic Meter Readers?
Water retailers like the team at Wave are obliged to read your water meter twice a year however, six months can be a long time between meter readings so unless you’re submitting your own reads, issues such as underground leaks may go unnoticed until you receive a large bill.
AMRs are also valuable in businesses where the water meters may be difficult to access. If your meter can’t be read twice a year, your bills will only be based on an estimate, which isn’t good for any business. Installing an Automatic Meter Reader will mean Wave is automatically provided with a monthly read to base your bill on and will reduce the risk of long unread meters and no true data.
Benefits of an AMR
- Full service support: Our service includes supply, installation, and maintenance of the latest Cello AMR devices on the market and each one can have a warranty of up to 5 years.
- Easy to monitor consumption: Automatic Meter Readers come with full access to Watercore, where you can monitor and check your water usage 24/7 via the online dashboard.
- Real time alerts to high consumption: Real-time alarms will be sent to you if your consumption rises above the usual threshold, this ensures that issues can be quickly identified.
- Automatic uploads mean more accurate bills – For Wave customers, we upload all reads into our billing system each month so we can use true reads to generate customers’ bills. This makes it easier to budget for your water rates and plan future spending more accurately.
What to consider before investing in an AMR
AMRs are not appropriate or suitable for all businesses and our team can work with you to find the best solution. We’ll start by finding out the answers to the following questions:
- Is your meter pulse-enabled? For an AMR to be fitted, the meter must be pulse-enabled, and this again comes at an extra cost if the meter needs exchanging.
- How much do you spend on your annual water bill? We usually advise customers not to spend no more than 10% of the value of their annual water bill trying to verify the value of that bill.
- Where is your water meter located? Your meter and AMR device also need mobile network coverage to send across the reads frequently.
Added Value with Active Water Management
Taking control of your data can be a real asset to any business and AMRs are just one of the ways Active Water Management can help our customers monitor and understand how to use water, avoid waste, spot high consumption levels and ultimately help customers save money.
One clear example is our work in London Borough of Merton Council were we helped them save over £20,000 using our AMR and Leakage, Fix and Find Services.
Find out more
If you’re interested in an AMR for your business, download our PDF below to find out which AMR might be right for your business. You can also contact your account manager or the water efficiency team via our contact number 01733 830728 or email valueaddedservices@wave-utilities.co.uk
Download our AMR flyer
