The water industry cannot afford half-measures when it comes to smart metering. With growing regulatory pressures, rising costs, and the urgent need for sustainability, water companies must take a strategic, long-term approach—one that ensures efficiency, resilience, and cost-effectiveness from the outset.
Doing it once and doing it right is no longer just a best practice; it is a necessity.
Horizon Water Infrastructure does not believe in one-size-fits-all solutions. Instead, the company takes a bespoke, end-to-end approach, designing tailored smart metering programmes. Through Metering-as-a-Service (MaaS), the company says it leads, designs, delivers, and funds best-in-class smart meter programmes—ensuring that water companies get smart metering right the first time, and for the long term.
Why water companies cannot afford to get it wrong
Learnings from the energy sector and early adopters in the water sector show that smart metering programmes can deliver significant operational, financial, and customer benefits—but only when implemented correctly. Where rollouts have fallen short, it has often been due to fragmented deployment, underestimated complexities, and budgetary constraints. If water companies can get it right from the start, they can avoid the pitfalls seen elsewhere.
The consequences of a poorly executed programme are significant:
- Inconsistent data collection leads to poor network insights, inaccurate billing, and frustrated customers.
- Cost overruns arise from unplanned expenses due to rework, upgrades, or scaling failures.
- Regulatory non-compliance can result in missed Ofwat targets and potential penalties.
- Customer backlash occurs when unclear communication, billing disputes, or ineffective engagement erode trust.
- Unmet battery life expectations have been a challenge in early deployments, with batteries failing far earlier than expected, leading to unexpected replacement costs and operational disruption.
Simply put, there is no room for “trial and error” when it comes to smart water metering at scale. The industry needs a comprehensive, future-proof approach.
Holistic programme design
A smart metering initiative should be built around long-term efficiency, not short-term fixes. Horizon Water Infrastructure’s approach is to be supplier-agnostic, so the right technology can be selected to ensure compatibility, scalability, and regulatory compliance.
They say it’s best to plan for full network integration to avoid data silos. The investment needs to be future-proofed, adapting to evolving policies, customer needs, and sustainability goals.
Smart, flexible funding solutions
Financial constraints are one of the biggest barriers to smart metering adoption. Horizon Water Infrastructure’s MaaS model eliminates these hurdles by providing off-balance-sheet financing – allowing water companies to invest without impacting capital budgets. Financial risk can be reduced by shifting the burden of asset ownership and ensuring long-term operational efficiency. By enabling phased deployments it’s possible to align investment with proven impact and scale effectively.
Data-driven decision making & deeper customer engagement
Horizon Water Infrastructure believes that the real power of smart metering lies in data analytics—but without the right infrastructure, valuable insights can go untapped.
Water companies should want to ensure there is full visibility into consumption, leaks, and network performance, so that they can empower customers with real-time usage data, to help reduce demand. AI and machine learning can help drive efficiencies by detecting issues before they escalate.
If water companies can strengthen customer relationships through proactive engagement—offering personalised insights, automated alerts, and tailored conservation advice, it builds trust and drives long-term behavioural change.
Setting the standard for best-in-class smart metering
Horizon Water Infrastructure says the do it once, do it right mindset is not just about avoiding costly mistakes—it is about building a sustainable, efficient water management system that delivers long-term value. Smart metering is an essential tool, but only if implemented with strategic foresight, robust execution, and financial sustainability.
To find out more, visit Horizon Water Infrastructure’s website here.
