Smart Water Meter - not an option?

Sterlingtimes

My smart meter uses LoRaWAN, not cellular.

FlatFour

Sterlingtimes said:

My smart meter uses LoRaWAN, not cellular.

Water company don't mention that sort, just the cellular sort.  However, I'd expect LoRaWAN would have issues here too, it being rural and hilly.

Not heard back from them yet... doubt I will.  Plenty of other things to deal with so chasing them hasn't been a priority.

jimjames

Peter999_2 said:

I am disgusted with the water companies that they only bill every 6 months, really pisses me off.      With my electric company, if I make a manual meter reading I get a bill the next day - why are water companies not forced to do the same.

You can do that, I give readings to my supplier and the bill is generated from it. I've changed to only pay on bill so that the company isn't sitting on my money from taking a DD.

FlatFour

Well, with the water company's "help" lines being unable to answer any questions, I went ahead and booked an install appointment, as suggested.  Chap arrived today, and he can't fit the meter, the reason given being we have work (kitchen refurb) planned - which the water co knew about, as I'd informed them.  Apparently, the installer - a sub-contractor (of course) for the water co - is liable for ANY subsequent leaks (£50 fine + I assume they have to fix it), so they now refuse to fit a new meter, if they know further plumbing work is planned.  We DELAYED our kitchen install, as the person doing that work suggested we get the meter fitted first, as the area is very easy to access currently.

Regarding the signal, the meter comes with a second box that holds a SIM card and apparently uses the regular mobile cell towers to transmit the meter reading - same as I was told on the phone to water co.  There is no signal here though.  What's really odd is that the engineer has no way to check the signal prior to the install, despite the meter relying on it.  He could see that his mobile is dead here of course, but he doesn't have a way to check the device its self, outside of actually installing it I imagine.  The meter does still have a screen (digital LCD) that, in theory, could be photographed and sent to the water co every month or whatever.  However, the installer didn't know anything about that process - nor could the water co themselves confirm that's 100% an option either of course.

Re: the install its self.  They usually just have the meter flat to the wall, so the display is facing away from the wall.  This is the longest axis of the meter, so it sticks out the most when installed this way, taking up the most space.  For us, it'd need to be flat to the wall so we can still read the screen when it's close to the fridge.  This way, it'll take up only 60% of the space in real terms.

So, a total joke when all is said and done.  Water Co cannot answer basic questions, do not seem to know how the stuff they're installing works, and does not pass on critical information to the Installer  The Engineer was ok, but would not attempt the work due to "policies" and previously being stung by the water co, being fined for subsequent leaks that were not necessarily due to their work.  Would have been nice to know this up-front.

All that said, we have a way forward of sorts.  So, proceed with the kitchen work - work that's been delayed several weeks waiting for this Meter install *sigh* - then book another meter install appointment, with the area now significantly harder to access, and requiring (at least) the fridge freezer to be moved out - with the risk of damage to the new flooring that's part of the kitchen update.  After all that, the meter is still very unlikely to be able to phone home, so manual meter readings and submission are required going forwards... if the water co even accept them.

All this faff despite the water co being forewarned about the potential issues in advance.  They knew about the signal issue.  They knew about the planned kitchen works.  They knew stuff would be easier to access prior to said work starting.  They failed to act on any of it.

Just to be clear, we try to plan things in advanced based on the best information we have.  We even reserved a parking spot for the engineer as it can be tricky around here, we cleared out even more stuff in the kitchen so they could access the area with ease.  Plus of course we forewarned them about potential issues.  All seems like wasted effort at this point.

FlatFour

An update:

Had the second installation appointment yesterday.  Chap arrived, looked at the location - was very thankful that we'd cleared things out of the way for him - and he just got it done.  No obvious issues.  Looks like the meter indeed cannot phone home, but it's been installed in a way that it's possible to read the display - even once the fridge etc. is back in place.  Apparently we'll have some documentation posted about what happens next.

One thing that's odd though, the meter is really noisy!  When water is flowing above a certain rate - say a loo is refilling - it makes a very loud ticking noise, like an old clock.  When just running a tap to fill the kettle or something, far less flow, it's silent.  The loud ticking is annoying, but I suppose we'll get used to it.  However, I do wonder why it's so darn noisy.

It's funny, I have some high flow rate and head pressure water pumps I use, and they're near silent despite working hard.  This thing is just measuring flow, so I don't know why it'd be so noisy.  I did some Googling, and many say it's the sign of a fault / worn meter, but this one is brand new!

Edit: Speaking to the water co is a bit of a mission.  Called the general number, go to transferred to the separate Meter installation department - long wait on hold - and spoke to someone.  However, they couldn't offer any help or advice and had to go speak to their manager - on hold again for a while.  Came back to me and said they'd escalated things, and someone would call.  While they acknowledge the problem, there was no advice whether this was normal or not - I assume not, hence why I called them.

QrizB

Steps in the right direction, at least.

My water meter is 20 metres away and underground, so I can't comment meaningfully on whether it ticks or not!

Bigphil1474

We had a meter fitted in April ish. I noticed the ticking for the first few weeks as well, can't remember the last time I heard it though. Maybe it needs a bit of time to settle? We haven't had a meter reading yet, the website just says they'll take one when they need it. Can't even submit a reading. (Yorkshire)

Think I read somewhere that a unit is 1,000 litres, and costs in the region of £5 a unit all in, so we are roughly paying 40% of the cost of our previous unmetered rate, and we are well in credit at the moment.