As compared to industrial and agricultural consumers, household consumers of water are the smallest but have a large impact on water usage.
At the household level, outdoor watering like lawns, driveway, steps, etc. accounts for almost 30 percent of water use, according to an analysis published by environment magazine.
Toilets (19%), washing machines (15%), showers (12%), and faucets (11%) also use a substantial amount of water. Then there’s the 10% of water lost to leaks which are not always easy to detect.
Smart water saving solutions leveraging IoT technology is the answer to take water conservation to a new level. IoT technology will enable smart water meters and sensors to be deployed in houses.
Smart water meters: To check water usage, using analog meters, owners and water suppliers will have to go and read the meters themselves, as meters cannot report water usage due to lack of connectivity. Connected smart water meters leveraging IoT technology can enable owners to view their water usage more easily, and can also send immediate alerts to homeowners if they are using too much water. Owners of homes will no longer have to wait for the end of the billing cycle to be notified.
Smart water flow sensors: A hidden maze of pipes exist in all houses, so it is difficult to detect leaks. Smart sensors can enable immediate detection of leaks. If a sensor detects water flow even when no water using appliance is running, the sensor can send an alert. The owner can then make the necessary repairs.
Leveraging the internet of things (IoT) technology allows new ways to be opened in water conservation. Smart water saving solutions allow water-using appliances to connect wirelessly and send data to a cloud-based system that can be accessed from a smartphone, allowing real-time water usage monitoring, analytics for comparing water usage over time (day-wise, week-wise, month-wise), checking the actual water consumed by the appliances.
Smart communication, sensor technology and near to real-time analysis, insight, and action can save large sums of money and countless hours detecting leaks.
