Demonstration Experiment on Manhole Pump Facilities Remote Monitoring with Water Smart Meter Communication Technology

Kosai City and Chubu Electric Power Co., Inc. ("Chubu Electric Power") are announcing the start of a demonstration experiment (the "Demonstration") on remote monitoring of manhole pump facilities (Note), which are sewerage facilities with using the water smart meter communication technology.

Sewerage services are required to strengthen their management systems quickly and efficiently by utilizing data to address issues such as securing a decreasing number of staff and promptly responding to disasters.

On the other hand, Kosai City monitors manhole pump facilities remotely by obtaining operational data and failure information once a month by receiving faxes via telephone lines, which makes information management complicated and prevents real-time monitoring of operational status.
In addition, the number of communication terminal equipment renewals is expected to increase in the future due to age-related deterioration, and there is a need to reduce renewal investment.

The Demonstration will utilize the water smart meter communication technology for automatic meter reading that both parties are working on, and change the communication method from telephone lines to the electricity smart meter communication network provided by Chubu Electric Power to confirm the reliability and feasibility of the communication technology.
In addition to reducing capital investment costs, we will also consider initiatives to solve problems in administrative services, such as prioritizing emergency response and optimizing the renewal cycle, by utilizing operational data on startup and shutdown times of manhole pump facilities.

The two parties will continue to work together to create new added value for the water supply business by utilizing the electricity smart meter communication network to further improve resident services.

(Note) Pumping facilities that collect domestic sewage from households and transfer it to sewage treatment plants.

1. Demonstration experiment period

• From April 01, 2024 to March 31, 2025

2. Demonstration test location

• 2 manhole pump facilities in Kosai City

3. Demonstration test items

(1) Verification of communication technology
(2) Review and technical verification of various data acquisition
(3) Consideration of an efficient management system in terms of monitoring information, functions, operations, etc.
(4) Verification of system construction for effective data utilization, and so forth