Aqualia has entrusted Vodafone Spain with the supply of NB-IoT connectivity to digitalize the entire water cycle for the next 10 years, according to an announcement made at MWC Barcelona 2024.
The initial target is to supply more than 1 million IoT connections to its water meters over the first 5 years of the contract. Since the rollout with Aqualia began in October 2022, Vodafone Spain has already connected more than 250,000 meters to its NB-IoT network.
In the coming years, Aqualia will offer a remote metering service to its more than 3 million users in Spain, which will lead to a better understanding of water use and efficiency, and greater transparency in water management. It will also help to improve environmental aspects and generate highly qualified technical employment.
Daniel Barallat, IoT Director at Vodafone Spain, said: "The control and proper management of water use in Spain is a constant challenge and of vital importance today. With this contract, we are putting our cutting-edge technology at Aqualia's service to actively contribute to better conservation of natural resources and more efficient water management.
Modernisation of the urban water cycle within the PERTE framework
The digitalisation of the integral water cycle that Aqualia will undertake in the communities in which it operates, with the help of Vodafone, is part of the Strategic Project for Economic Recovery and Transformation (PERTE). PERTE aims to modernise the urban water cycle to improve its efficiency, reducing water losses in the distribution systems and improving wastewater treatment infrastructures.
The funding line foreseen by the Ministry of Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge, which manages these projects, amounts to 200 million euros in this second call for proposals. It is expected to mobilise a further 1.7 billion euros of Next Generation public funds over the coming years and create around 3,500 new jobs.
Vodafone Water Metering: a comprehensive approach to modernise the water cycle
Vodafone has developed the Vodafone Water Metering solution to meet the digitalisation needs of all water management companies. The solution makes it possible to digitise the consumption metering process of households, industries and public entities through the use of smart and connected devices, which collect a greater amount of information, and through the subsequent processing of this information with data analysis tools.
Both companies are currently developing a pilot of Vodafone Water Metering in the city of Vigo, which will help Aqualia to have full control of the remote metering solution and guarantee the best service to its customers. Among other advantages:
- Fraudulent uses such as reverse flow and tampering (fraudulent manipulation of drinking water meters) can be detected, in addition to detecting leaks in the installations.
- It allows the prediction of user consumption patterns, making it easier for the management companies of local councils and town councils to adjust the amount of water needed for pumping in each of the locality's sectorisations. With adjusted water pumping, both the energy consumption of the pumping stations and the pressure to which the system is subjected will be appropriate, making the cycle more sustainable in energy terms, avoiding exposing the infrastructure to unnecessary stress and reducing the risk of breakages and large-scale water leaks.
- It automatically identifies leaks within the sector by carrying out an hourly water balance, which allows a quick reaction and avoids high water losses.
- The consumer can know his consumption on a daily basis, is informed if the meter detects a leak in his home or industry and is billed for the amount of water consumed without making any estimates.
- Finally, it reduces the consumption of unregistered water (ANR).
