Water meter testing pressure gauge demonstrating a healthy Water Infrastructure system

Water Meter Testing and Surveys

Building a custom metering framework combined with
a detailed revenue recovery business case.

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Risk mitigation using industry-approved water audit measures and practices.

Field survey, sampling, bench testing, and ground testing of meters to capture accurate data.

Blue icon of a piggybank with a dollar sign demonstrating money saved from a healthily water infrastructure

Business case with actionable revenue recovery data and meter accuracy guarantees.

OUR PROPRIETARY WATER

INFRASTRUCTURE IMPROVEMENT PROCESS

1

Preliminary System Analysis

2

Data Analysis and Triage

3

Water Meter Survey and Testing

4

Professional Installation and Management

SERVICES

Professional Installation & Management

Transmit actionable data to billing system via our proprietary Smart Installation Management System.

Data Triage

Analyze and discover revenue opportunities inside inconsistent data between meters and billing systems.

Water Meter System Analysis

Envocore conducts system surveys and metering testing and tests to verify accuracy and create framework for meter changeout as well as to help build revenue recovery model.

Solution Design

Identify systems that can easily integrate with your current billing system and into the physical attributes of your distribution system.

WATER METER TESTING AND SURVEYS

We conduct extensive field surveys and metering testing to create a meter changeout framework, build a sound revenue recovery business case, and bring our utility customers long-term ROI.

In particular, we draw upon industry best practices for water loss auditing created by the International Water Association (IWA) and AWWA. We perform testing and quantify key performance indicators that provide vastly superior means for assessing water loss performance in distribution systems while also recognizing that contributing factors and potential corrective measures are specific to each water utility.

Using the AWWA water audit tool, we capture critical data about water supplied, authorized consumption, water losses, and billed authorized consumption, as well as revenue water (billed metered and unmetered consumption) and non-revenue water caused by unbilled consumption, unauthorized consumption, data handling errors, leakage, and overflows.

We mitigate project risk by doing the following:

Conduct meter testing in strict adherence to criteria established in the AWWA M6 Water Meters – Selection, Installation, Testing, and Maintenance manual.
Use International Performance Measurement and Verification Protocol (IPMVP) sample size procedures to calculate sample sizes of meters tested using representative sampling.
Conduct field testing of large meters using a National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) traceable Mars VEROflow-4 (VF-4) mobile meter testing system.
Bench test small and intermediate meters using a NIST-traceable laboratory bench system.

We generate a list of meters to be tested from the Revenue Recovery Database (RRDB). We also add an extra 5% to 15% of meters to the sample size for each grouping where possible to account for randomly selected meters that are not accessible.

The survey first identifies if each meter can be tested in the field (e.g., if isolation valves exist, test ports exist, and meters are accessible). The survey also addresses the following questions regarding the scope of work for each meter, enabling sound decision-making:

Can the meter be retrofitted vs. replaced?
Should any valves or appurtenances be replaced with the project?
Are the meter box/vault and lid in good repair?

We generate a randomly selected list of meters to be tested. Next, we do the following:

Determine sample sizes for each grouping of meters using an IPMVP Sample Size calculator, usually with a 90% confidence level and 10% desired precision.
Choose specific meters to test using a random selection generator.
Bench test meters using a NIST-traceable laboratory bench system.

We generate a list of meters to be tested. Next, we do the following:

Evaluate meters identified as testable during the field survey for economic feasibility of testing.
Ground-test meters with significant contribution to the customer’s annual revenue.
Evaluate meters that show consumption patterns well below those expected for the meter size.

Every metering project is different and receives a custom solution. We review the meter testing results, share operational cost avoidance calculations, and review revenue recovery costs and benefits. We then present a final fact-based business case analysis, providing project guarantees related to meter accuracy, precision, and traceability.