Zone Meter Monitoring With SCADA
When utilities companies distribute their water supply throughout an area, they are always monitoring where that water flows to, how much of it is flowing, and how that water is affecting the infrastructure that transports it. For water utility companies, water equals money. This means that if there happens to be a leak, burst, or malfunction within the infrastructure that transports the water supply, water utility companies will begin to hemorrhage money.
Not only is it environmentally conscious to monitor the health and status of the water distribution system, it’s also the best way these utility companies can perform their service the best way they can while also saving money and resources.
How Does Zone Metering Work?
Essentially, zone metering is how utility companies monitor and manage the different distribution systems they use. They break up different locations into zones which allows them to more accurately monitor usage, flow, and any malfunctions that may occur.
Monitoring distribution in a smaller geographic area is much more efficient for gathering information on the status of your system than compared to monitoring a much larger area. By maintaining an accurate zone meter monitoring system, utility companies can more accurately and efficiently respond to malfunctions, leaks, or any other mishaps occurring in the distribution system.
How SCADA Is Used In Zone Meter Monitoring
Zone metering is a great practice for utility companies to employ. However, zone meter monitoring is much more accurate and precise with a cloud-based SCADA system. Having a SCADA system within your distribution system will help provide you data, alarms, alerts, and status updates at a greater efficiency.
Additionally, using a SCADA system in your water distribution system can help your utility service save more money in the long term, as well as the short term. With the quick and accurate reporting that comes from a cloud-based SCADA system, utility companies can accurately assess how much of their product is being used, and how they can grow their utility while still maintaining safe and efficient practices of distributing water.
SCADA systems can also provide further insight into the overall health and productivity of your system. Being able to accurately monitor flow rates, drops in pressure, and overall usage within your system, utility companies can perform regularly scheduled maintenance to ensure that every facet of their system is running smoothly and efficiently.
So when it comes to accurate reporting on the health of a distribution system, a cloud-based SCADA system is a huge asset to utility companies. The bottom line is that these SCADA systems can help save money for utilities, and create a more efficient distribution process.
Employing a SCADA System For Water Monitoring
High Tide Technologies provides comprehensive cloud-based SCADA solutions that deliver real-time data acquisition through our secure client portal. SCADA solutions provide insight into preventive equipment maintenance, pump status, fill times, flow rates, and more. Additionally, the system sends alarm notifications that signal equipment failures or high water usage so you can quickly inspect or repair the affected equipment.
High Tide’s custom SCADA solutions enable water system operators to remotely monitor location-specific data which is ideal for zone meter monitoring. This helps to improve system functions while minimizing water waste. Before SCADA came on the scene, an employee had to physically inspect sites to collect data. SCADA Systems can eliminate inefficiencies of trial and error diagnosis by providing water distribution operators with precise data about each component of their distribution system.