How is consumption data captured and processed by micrometering, according to the pilot test?
“In the zone there will be 3 or 4 centers, or information concentrators that send the data package to the central house to be able to bill the consumption as taken by the meters. It is the technical factor. Regarding consumption, It was proven that users, when they have a meter and feel controlled, consume lessbeyond the fact that we are still setting the minimum and maximum parameters,” explained the president of Aysam, Humberto Mingorance.
How will water be paid for?
From the installation of the meter, Aysam will bill clients in the fixed fee plus excess system (Art. 39 tariff regime), where each property is assigned a consumption base and the excess will be invoiced on said base if it is exceeded.
According to Mingorance, the criterion is that “established a maximum, everything that is consumed more will be more expensive. Exceeded the limit, the cost per liter or m3 will increase progressively“.
What does the fraction of “Fixed fee”? For the company, it rewards everything they are operating costs: replacement of parts, personnel, repair and maintenance of networks, operation of water treatment plants, among others, “plus a minimum water availablewhich will be between 100 and 200 liters per day per person“.
Until the new charging system is ready, users will pay bills without metered service. However, during After 6 months you will be informed of your actual consumption. Then the fixed fee plus excess (measured) modality will begin to be billed.
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Each water meter allows the collection of consumption data in real time and remotely through a central office, for subsequent billing.
More meters and an “app” for consumption (and losses)
It is part of the plan that Mingorance promises to carry out while progress is made in the purchase and placement of more meters in the rest of the province. There is still a long way to go, taking into account that Aysam concentrates 60% of the water service in Mendoza, while the rest is distributed among the municipalities (Maipú, Luján and Tupungato) and 146 community operators.
Total, There are more than 375 thousand accounts. Of that universe, once the installation on the new grid is completed, almost 40% will have home meters waiting to progress with more placements until 2026.
According to the owner of Aysam “we want buy another 100 thousand more towards the end of the year, to be able to start placing them at the latest in early 2025 to replace old bronze meters. The objective would be to complete 50% by the end of next year”.
But when it comes to technology, along with the telemetry that the network of equipment will manage, Aysam will enable an application to be downloaded to the users’ cell phones.
“The idea is that they can have consumption information minute by minute, in real time. Something comparable to have the meter on your cell phone to be able to check it, and even being able to detect losses, such as in the bathroom backpack for example, when no one is home“, Mingorance exemplified what is intended.
What is macromeasurement
But it is not only aimed at measuring the consumption (or demand) of water. Also, at the request of the Government, which presented its draft Water Law for Mendoza this week, the plan also includes the measurement of supply, that is, how much enters each basin and how much leaves.
The equation (supply minus demand) results in the so-called “water balance”. At Aysam they talk about obtaining precise data, and for that, having ultrasonic macrometers on 2 aqueducts, and in 6 boreholes that supply the basin.
For Mingorance “it is important because it will allow determine how many cubic meters irrigation delivers to each of the water treatment plants from the province. AND We will know how much water goes into the network thanks to different sensorsin this area that already has 100% home meters.”
A concrete example of its intended usefulness: If a macrometer indicates that 100 liters came out but 60 were consumed, it allows us to presume that there are leaks or losses. on the network that need to be repaired.
A bet that requires another budget: u$d 2,800,000 (VAT included) to purchase and install them via tender. Although without a specific date, it is anticipated that it will be “in the coming months.”
In this way, Aysam insists, not only is a reduction in consumption proposed but from the “first macro and micro-measured area of the province” to optimize the resource.
