-
Many homes in Bangalore and Hyderabad, have 'smartened' their piped water consumption. Other cities are poised to follow
Consider this rather common scenario: You have dozens of apartments in a residential complex, all sharing the same metered water supply. Managements usually divide the water bill equally.. but the same complex has 1 bedroom, 2 bedroom and 3 bedroom flats and why should the smaller apartments with less members pay the same as units with many more users? This is a common complaint of apartment owners in gated communities and large complexes.
Now a Bangalore startup SmarterHomes, has developed a solution that might solve the problem: an automated Internet of Things (IoT) product called WaterOn, claimed to be the world’s first 100% automated smart water meter offering accurate metering, leak detection and control. The device provides real time readings to help consumers prevent wastage and save money. The meter is an independent unit sending data to a cloud server. It comes in two variations – one with a remote operable valve allowing users to shut off water supply in the event of a leak or planned vacation, and second without valve which can alert the user of a leak, but requires manual shut off.
How does WaterOn work?
Measure: WaterOn uses positive displacement technology that is said to be superior to conventional jet type water meters. It can be installed in any orientation horizontal or vertical or even at an angle. In high rise apartment complexes, each water inlet is fixed with a WaterOn smart water meter. The meters connect each other network ensuring real time, loss free transmission of data to the wireless communication hub called Nuclious.
Monitor: Nuclious enables real time connectivity of smart meters and sensors with the SmarterHomes platform. The comprehensive dashboard accessible from internet and smart phones allows the customers to see their supply and consumption statistics, their averages, lowest and highest consumptions and also compare their usage with neighbours.
Control: In the event of a leakage or an abnormal consumption, the device will alert the user on the phone and user can close it remotely with the help of an app.
WaterOn also incorporates billing that presents the bill data plus usage trends, forecasts and a 6-month historical view of the consumption.
The WaterOn range starts from Rs.6,499 plus taxes for the base variant for high rise buildings.
SmarterHomes has its presence in Bangalore, Hyderabad and in international markets like Finland, Holland and Indonesia. The company was started by Vivek Shukla and Kasturi Rangan in 2014.