From space, the blue and green marble we call home looks deceptively watery. It’s true that about 71% of the Earth’s surface is covered in water, but most of it — over 96% — is saltwater. That leaves about 3.5% in the form of freshwater. But, here’s the thing: Most of THAT is locked up in glaciers, ice caps, soil, and air (or it’s too polluted to use). The rest — only about 0.7% of the planet’s water — is available for consumption. And, there is a lot of competition for it.
Public water supply is only one of many demands on our limited freshwater resources, and it’s not even the biggest. In the United States, energy production and irrigation account for the lion’s share, needing a combined 75% of available freshwater. Public water supply takes the bronze at about 12%.
With so little available to waste, it’s easy to understand why water conservation is critical. At home, we can be good water stewards by using water mindfully: taking shorter showers, limiting irrigation, and fixing that leaky toilet that inevitably seems to run at two in the morning.
For water utilities, water conservation is top of mind as well. It’s no easy task; water distribution networks are a mind-numbingly complex labyrinth of pumps, pipes, and valves — much of which is underground and out of sight. To compound this, our nation’s water infrastructure is aging and beginning to fail at an alarming rate. About 850 water main breaks occur every day in the U.S. — that’s one every two minutes! The result is the loss of some 6 billion gallons a day of treated water.
The good news is that technology is helping today’s water utilities identify, locate, and address threats to water networks — before they become catastrophic losses. Master Meter is at the forefront of this smart water movement. We partner with our utility customers to up their smart water tech game while solving their toughest water utility challenges.
One of our newest and most exciting innovations is a complete re-imagining of our best-in-class Harmony Meter Data Management (MDM) software. From design and interoperability to user experience (UX) and speed, Harmony Encore MDM empowers utilities to manage their water meter assets, analyze water system consumption demand, and enable their customers to take charge of their conservation efforts when paired with our My Water Advisor portal.
For water utilities that have already started down the smart water path with advanced metering infrastructure (AMI), Harmony Encore complements other software systems they may currently be using. In fact, it is compatible with nearly every advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) network on the market today and not only monitors water loss and network performance in real-time, it also analyzes network health to preemptively manage issues before they become serious.
At Master Meter, everything we do is designed to help our utility customers reduce costs, improve efficiencies, and promote water stewardship through empowering conservation of our most precious resource. Visit us at AWWA ACE22, Booth #20068, to learn more!
