What Are the Benefits of Universal Water Metering? Lessons Learned at the District of West Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

The District of West Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada started investigating a universal metering program with the endorsement of its Water Conservation Strategy in 2002. Extensive investigation was done regarding the benefits of metering and it was agreed that metering would provide valuable information about how much water is used, by whom, where and when. It was anticipated that this information could be used for both water system management, demand side management and the billing of customers which, in turn, would support the District's water conservation initiative. A universal metering program was started in 2005. More than 12,100 meters are already installed and the water consumptions of about 18,600 customers have been read on a monthly basis since January 2007. The District opted to install a radio based metering system that made it possible to read meters remotely via radio frequency. This paper reviews the procedure the District went through during the implementation of its universal metering program and focuses on: 1). the use of water consumption data to support utility billing, 2). the verification of meter readings, 3). water tariff and revenue analysis, 4). unaccounted-for-water calculation and 5). hydraulic modelling. The authors of this paper were closely involved in the data integration and software development to support the District of West Vancouver in this process and are currently responsible for the monthly processing, reporting and analysis of all meter readings on behalf of the District. A web based application was developed where monthly consumption data and reports are published and made available to key staff members and management.