“Hidroconta was born nearly 40 years ago”, starts Mr Corbalán, CEO of Hidroconta. “It is a company that works in water metering: we manufacture meters, telemetry and remote control equipment, and we are very much involved in the digitalisation of the water sector”.
About the technologies his company uses, he says they are developing technologies related to smart metering. Specifically, communications modules, ultrasonic meters with integrated communications, remote control equipment and data loggers. And he remarks: “All of this allows us to put together packages to help incorporate sensors into water services, whether water is used for agriculture, domestic supply or industrial purposes”.
He emphasizes the role of communications technology: “We have IoT – Internet of Things – with Narrowband (NB-IoT), LoRaWAN, and SigFox, which also play a very important role”. And points out that at Hidroconta they are technology agnostic, and have integrated all of those technologies into their communications systems.
After the first step of gathering data, comes an essential task: how that information is treated. In this regard, Mr Corbalán comments: “We have seen that, with about one thousand meters connected, we end up with more than one million data per month. That is a lot of information to treat, to analyse, and to process in order to apply it to make the right decisions”.
Originally Hidroconta’s activities were in the area of agricultural irrigation, but the company has since evolved. “Thanks to applying these technologies, we have diversified our business and nowadays urban water represents an important part of our activity”, explains its CEO. And he adds: “We believe it will become even more important because the technologies we have developed adapt really well to the needs we are finding in the urban water sector”.
Finally, the outlook for the future. Mr Corbalán is positive: “I always say that the years to come will be exciting. We really are witnessing an incredible transformation in the sector”. And he elaborates on this notion: “The technologies are already here, and companies, managers and utilities are realising that we have to invest in this transformation, and I think the sector is going to see some intense and exciting years”.
