Metro Water installs water meters in 1,200 buildings

According to an official, AMR meters have been installed in around 1,200 gated communities and commercial buildings as on Thursday. “The first phase of the project is under way and we have decided to install meters in around 12,700 buildings during this phase,” the official said. Even though larger commercial buildings have water meters, usage readings had to be collected manually while AMR meters will send readings directly to the control room every month.

“These meters are equipped with radio-frequency transmitters and are manufactured in France. It takes time to import the meters and complete phase 1. Earlier, our workers had to enter the sumps tocollect the readings,” the official added.

Currently, the water manager charges Rs 70 per kilolitre of water for domestic purpose and Rs 100 per kilolitre for commercial purpose. Once the commercial establishments and industrial buildings are provided with the water meters, Metro Water would can charge consumers as per their use.

The civic body has a proposal to install water meters across the city to measure the amount of water consumed by the residents in 200 wards. It plans to supply piped water 24x7.

For now, Metro Water is providing AMR meters for free, but after the completion of phase 1, residents will have to pay for it. Currently, only around six per cent of the buildings in the city have these water meters.