300,000 households, businesses to get new smart water meters from early 2022

SINGAPORE — About 300,000 households and businesses in Singapore will have new smart water meters from early next year, allowing them to monitor their daily water usage and receive alerts about suspected leaks.

This comes as national water agency PUB launches the first phase of its Smart Water Meter Programme.

The programme will be rolled out at Bukit Batok, Hougang, Jurong West, Tampines, Tampines North, Tengah and Tuas, PUB said on Thursday (April 15). Meter installation is expected to start in early 2022 and be completed in 2023.

“In selecting these locations, PUB had considered a range of factors including property mix, efficiency of deployment and the need to replace older conventional water meters,” the agency said.

The meters will be installed at no cost to customers. Customers will receive notification letters from PUB prior to the installation.

SP Group’s subsidiary, SP Services Limited, has been appointed for the S$123.7 million smart water metering project.

Currently, conventional water meters are read manually once every two months, and customers are billed every month with their water consumption estimated every alternate month.

Smart water meters will eliminate the need for manual readings, as the devices can read and remotely transmit data back to PUB daily.

Customers will also be able to access near real-time data to track their daily water usage, and will can also receive alerts about high consumption and suspected leaks. 

Such leaks often go unnoticed until customers receive a higher than usual water bill at the end of the month, PUB said. Tracking their daily consumption will also help customers become smarter users of water, saving water and money in the process, the agency added.

“The Smart Water Meter Programme is an important pillar in PUB’s Smart Roadmap, which outlines our vision to digitalise Singapore’s entire water system. With access to near real-time monitoring and data across the water network, this allows us to transform our operations and planning to meet Singapore’s water needs,” said Mr Ridzuan Ismail, Director of Water Supply (Network).

“With increasing water demand and challenges posed by climate change on our water resources, we are also constantly challenged to find more efficient ways to supply water and conserve water, in order to safeguard Singapore’s water security,” he added.

Mr Ridzuan also said that smart water meters that can provide near real-time water use information will help to change consumer behavior and give a major push to water conservation efforts.

Following the roll-out of this first phase, PUB will look to install smart water meters nationwide, the agency said.

The meters will be installed as part of PUB’s meter replacement programme at no cost to customers. CNA

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