The Island of Sardinia, Italy, has adopted Itron’s ultrasonic smart water meters as it plans a massive replacement campaign across the island. Italian water distributor Abbanoa will deploy the Itron Intelis wSource meters to help it reduce water waste and support more sustainable water use on the island.

The second largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, Sardinia has suffered from increasing water shortage in the last decade. This affects the agricultural sector in particular but also supplies of drinking water and water for industry. At times it approaches water availability typical in North Africa and the Middle East rather than Europe.

Itron’s smart metering technology gives Abbanoa access to detailed and precise data on a frequent basis. Thanks to the meter’s built-in alarms, the utility will be able to quickly detect leaks in its water network to reduce non-revenue water loss.

The new meters will allow Abbanoa to collect meter readings remotely. The remote reading will allow the utility to quickly identify usual water patterns. In turn, this can lower their customers water consumption due to things such as leaks and lower their bills.

They will also simplify data collection. The ultrasonic water meters have no moving parts and are designed to be long-lasting. The meters prevent unplanned maintenance costs while providing accurate water data. They also provide advanced analytics for improving efficiencies. The utility can get insight into the health of their water network. This helps to reduce real and apparent water loss.

“It is essential not to take water for granted, but rather to protect and manage it in the best possible way. This is especially true as a water distributor enabling ever-increasing services to our end-users. Taking advantage of Itron’s smart metering system is included in our technological innovation plan that Abbanoa is adopting to improve service quality, speed up activity times and reduce costs,” said Maurizio Zannol, who is responsible for the measures sector at Abbanoa. “With remote meter reading, in a single day, it will be possible to take as many as 2,500 consumption readings versus 200 with a traditional door-to-door system. As many of our customers have inaccessible meters or have meters located inside private homes, Itron’s smart meters will allow us to simplify the data collection process with remote readings. We look forward to deploying Itron’s ultrasonic smart meters with high-precision two-way communication and accessing key information such as leak detection and reverse flow.”

“As the single operator of the integrated water service in Sardinia, it is critical that Abbanoa is able to reliably deliver water to its customers. With Itron’s smart water meter, the utility will create the foundation for more efficient resource management,” said Justin Patrick, senior vice president of Device Solutions at Itron. “The meter is built to maintain the highest level of accuracy in some of the most challenging conditions, which will help deliver long-lasting results in the Sardinia island climate.”