EMASESA, Empresa Metropolitana de Abastecimiento y Saneamiento de Aguas de Sevilla, has entrusted Telefónica Tech with the supply of the smart metering solution for the city, enabling remote, automatic and accurate reading of consumption through its NB-IoT (Narrowband IoT) communication networks.
Telefónica Tech, in collaboration with the Spanish meter manufacturer Contazara, will connect a total of 77,300 meters for EMASESA over a period of four years, as well as more than 41,500 hubs in two years, where each of these hubs allows up to seven additional meters to be connected. Since January, when the roll-out began, this technology has reached more than 100,000 households.
The NB-IoT network is a communication technology that connects IoT devices and is characterised by low data consumption, high penetration and signal propagation even in remote or difficult-to-access locations, and by its minimal energy consumption, achieving a useful life of more than twelve years for the meter batteries.
The implementation of this smart metering equipment is part of EMASESA’s Digital Transformation Strategic Plan, as it is an essential part of its digital transformation and has a high impact on sustainability, customer service quality and safety.
Thanks to smart metering, EMASESA will go from having quarterly in-person readings to having remote access to the consumption of the user community every hour. This information is essential for the management company to be able to monitor consumption in practically real time and detect anomalous consumption such as leaks in infrastructures and fraud, putting an end to consumption estimates and the need to access homes.
The information received through NB-IoT technology, which will involve more than 7.5 million readings per day, will be stored in EMASESA’s ‘datalake’, a technological platform equipped with artificial intelligence applied to efficient water management, which will make it possible to manage leaks, intelligent adduction or a digital twin of the WWTP (Wastewater Treatment Plant), among others. Likewise, through the “My EMASESA” APP and the Online Office, users will be able to know their daily hourly consumption and detect anomalous consumption, as well as take an active role in achieving sustainability objectives, becoming a tool to promote the responsible use of water and combat drought.
Manuel Romero, CEO of EMASESA, said: “This project is one of the pillars of an ambitious five-year Digital Transformation Programme that covers the entire water cycle, placing the user and their safety at the centre of EMASESA’s management. Remote control of water consumption is also a fundamental tool for combating drought. The remote reading of the digital meters will help us to reduce consumption to 90 litres/person/day, thereby achieving annual savings of 20%, which in 10 years (drought cycle forecast) would be equivalent to having a new reservoir”.
Alfredo Serret, Global Head of IoT at Telefónica Tech, said: “Our Smart Water solution helps water utilities to digitally transform their infrastructure and processes to be more efficient and sustainable, as well as to offer a more personalised service to users. The combination of IoT technologies, big data and artificial intelligence allows us to generate impact on our customers and citizens, optimising the supply service”.
Isaac Navarro, CEO of Contazara, said: “We have been working together with EMASESA for many years and they have always been committed to new technologies, implementing those they considered beneficial for their customers and their city. Now, with this great commitment to Contazara meters and Telefónica Tech’s NB-IoT remote reading, they are once again making a great qualitative leap forward, putting Seville at the forefront of water management worldwide”.
