Whether companies construct their smart metering programmes from scratch or use a third-party service, they will face common challenges. These include the installation of meters in tricky environments. Boundary boxes may be flooded or dirty, and radio signals may experience interference.

“If that asset [the boundary box] is not suitable for installing a meter, that becomes our problem,” says Dady. “As part of our service we offer boundary box replacement and wrap it into the overall service charge, spread out across 20 years so that all of the cost isn’t stacked up in the first five years when you are doing the rollout. Ten to 20% of your boundary boxes will need replacement, and that’s a big capital investment.”

Installation requires dedicated teams although the level of training required is not as demanding as for smart meter installation in the energy sector. But getting millions of meters into boundary boxes is just the beginning.

As Mike Gauterin of United Utilities says: “I always say our smart metering programme isn’t a meter programme, it’s a data and awareness and customer engagement programme.” Daniel Reilly of HWI adds: “You must have a coherent data strategy to harness the value of your investment in smart meters. A smart meter rollout without one is just a very expensive meter replacement programme – you won’t get the intended benefits.” Ofwat will penalise companies whose smart meters don’t send data effectively, he points out. “If it doesn’t connect or doesn’t send enough data from the meter to qualify as smart, that’s a problem.”

That’s why operability of meters is a key metric for Thames Water. “If smart metering is to have a good reputation, the meters have to work and they have to keep working,” explains Mark Cooper. “With smart meters, you have to nurture them to achieve good levels of operability because they are such a rich source of data.”

Get that right, and the possibilities for the industry are massive, as Cooper’s colleague Andrew Tucker suggests: “A lot of the loss of water we measure from smart meters is occurring because of plumbing losses – a leaky loo or shower or tap. If you don’t have the smart meter, you’ll never determine that water is constantly flowing.”

He expands on the point: “We’ve got over 60,000-odd businesses that are smart metered. If you round up the total water, at the moment 25% of that is showing as continuous flow. Some of it will be around the clock usage – genuine operational stuff – but the majority of that is water that needs to be fixed on the customer side.”

So, the opportunity to save water using the power of smart meters is vast. “The smart meter is integral to sustainability and what it means for water resources because you’ve got near or real-time monitoring of consumption patterns,” says Horton of The Future Water Association. “All that information will tie into how pipe networks are operating because you can see leakage at a more granular level.” He adds that MaaS may benefit water companies who find they need to rapidly scale up smart meter delivery. “It’s been going on in energy for a while, so MaaS should be part of the mix going forward. You need as many options as possible.”

Doug Spencer, the head of smart metering at Anglian Water, one of the companies to pioneer the introduction of smart meters for water-stressed areas, agrees. He told The Future Water Association smart metering conference this summer: “If we were doing this from the ground up, I would be sorely tempted to go down the MaaS route with an organisation that has experience, knowledge and buying power.

“I am really pleased MaaS has come into the industry. We shouldn’t put all our eggs in one basket. The fact that we are trialling all these different methodologies means that in AMP9 we will have a really clear idea as to how we should deliver.”

Whatever system is used, Anglian Water strongly believes smart programmes should focus on delivery for the customer. Spencer says: “Given that we are asking our customers to fix leaks and adjust behaviour we need to ensure that the standard and quality of the data is such that our customers are engaged by it.” There is a risk, he says, “that economics drives companies to an asset and operations-driven programme that will not deliver the required benefits”.

He adds that with smart metering, “we have seen a 20-fold increase in the number of detected leaks each year [internal and external since April 2021 now totals 550,000 for domestic customers alone].

“That is just going to increase further as we install more meters.”