How Analytics Tools Help Utilities Meet Water Conservation Goals

On July 8, 2021, the governor of California called on all residents to voluntarily reduce their water use by 15% from their 2020 levels. This was ordered to preserve the state’s declining surface and groundwater supplies, as well as to prepare for continued dry conditions into the coming year.

Household leaks and landscape irrigation account for a bulk of wasted water, so it’s critical that California water utility customers get on board with these conservation efforts. A few recommended reduction tactics include:

• Running washing machines and dishwashers only when they are full
• Installing water-efficient showerheads and taking shorter showers
• Identifying leaks within your home and fixing them
• Irrigating lawns on specific days and/or at set times to minimize impact

This recent mandate is just one example of communities prioritizing conservation. Similar mandates have been put in place due to the water shortage on the Colorado River, affecting multiple Southwestern states.

Tools to Help Communities Accomplish Water Conservation Goals

To support water reduction mandates and effectively conserve water, utilities and their customers first need to know how much water they are using. Analytics tools from Badger Meter—like BEACON^® Software as a Service (SaaS) for utilities and EyeOnWater^® consumer engagement portal for customers—provide usage data in near real-time. This information helps utilities understand how much water customers are using and identify leaks. Similarly, customers can use a consumer engagement smartphone app or portal to monitor their household’s water use in daily, weekly, monthly and yearly consumption charts and take steps to reduce it. 

Benefits Utilities Are Realizing With BEACON SaaS

When paired with cellular endpoints, 15-minute interval meter data is automatically communicated directly to BEACON SaaS. Utilities can then use this data to identify and monitor sources of excess water consumption and notify customers to take corrective actions as necessary.

BEACON SaaS provides utilities with powerful, yet easy-to-use tools to help with conservation efforts, including: 

• Leak analytics—Identify continuous flow conditions that represent potential leaks.
• Reduction goal filters—Provide one-click access to accounts that met or failed to meet mandated water use reduction goals.
• Parity filters—Monitor usage based on whether a customer has an odd or even numbered street address.
• High/Low consumption filters—Count and select meters that had usage above or below the utility-defined thresholds of normal water use.
• Diurnal demand exports—Identify daily peak water demand cycles to manage the cost of purchasing and moving water.
• District Metering Area (DMA) support—Monitor usage across your entire water distribution network, with the ability to compare between supply and demand meters to quantify non-revenue water.

Advantages for Customers Using EyeOnWater

Consumer engagement portals—like EyeOnWater—provide customers with access to their household’s individual water use. EyeOnWater presents water usage data in easy-to-understand consumption graphs so customers can monitor their water use and ensure it is trending downward.

More than just reporting water use, EyeOnWater also lets users set leak alerts with the option to receive notifications via email and/or SMS text to be alerted in near real-time. Tools like these are instrumental in conserving water because customers can take responsibility for their water usage, make changes to reduce it and monitor their improvements all from a single source.

Real-World Example of Water Reduction Provisions

One California city is a leading example of successful water conservation efforts. Due to extreme drought conditions and the need to monitor unmetered sections of their water distribution system, the city implemented a new water metering system that incorporated more than 10,800 meters, 22,000 cellular endpoints and BEACON SaaS so the utility and its customers could monitor water usage.

With the system deployed, the city has access to a greater amount of data to prioritize their water conservation efforts. They can identify water waste, perform timely repairs in the field and explain how usage translates to customer bills to encourage conservation. More than 1,400 customers have signed up for EyeOnWater. They appreciate the opportunity to monitor their water usage to identify excess usage and reduce it to save on water bills.

Putting a Water Conservation Plan in Place

Every utility has unique operation goals and the same is true for conservation. Some utilities may have long-term conservation goals while others are based on urgent needs. Whether you’re looking to implement a water conservation plan or need help accomplishing your current goals, an investment in analytics tools may be just the ticket to make every drop count.