Chubu Electric Power Signs a Basic Agreement on a Demonstration Test of Smart Water Meter Attachments that Can Take Automatic Water Meter Readings Using Chubu’s Smart Meter Communication Network in Shizuoka City

Today, in Shizuoka City, the Shizuoka City Waterworks and Sewerage Bureau (Municipal utility manager: Yasushi Morishita; “Shizuoka City"), Azbil Kimmon Co., Ltd. (President: Masahiro Uenishi; "Azbil Kimmon"), Toshiba Infrastructure Systems & Solutions Corporation (President: Takayuki Konno; "Toshiba Infra Systems"), Nihon Water Solution Co., Ltd (President: Kouzou Fukui; "Nihon Water"), Toshin Inc. (President: Hidenori Kiriyama; "Toshin"), and Chubu Electric Power Co., Inc. (President: Kingo Hayashi; "Chubu Electric Power") concluded a basic agreement on a demonstration test of smart water meter attachments that can take automatic water readings ("attachment") using Chubu Electric Power’s electricity smart meter communication network.

In recent years, water utilities have been looking to ensure sound management and increase efficiency by saving manpower in water meter readings and increasing revenue-generating water supply rate (Note) using ICT and IoT technologies.

The attachment that will be used in the demonstration, announced today, can take pictures and read meter indications (OCR). This enables automatic meter readings of existing water meters without having to replace the meter itself with an electronic water meter. The built-in vibration sensor can also detect leaks in nearby pipelines inside the home and under the road.

The demonstration that will be conducted in the residential areas in Shimizu Ward, Shizuoka City will assess and verify the usefulness of automatically reading water meter indications of existing water meters using the attachment and the functionality of the pipeline leak detection feature of the attachment, the results of which will be communicated through the electricity smart meter communication network. Through these efforts, we hope to reduce the upfront cost of automatic meter readings and increase revenue-generating water supply for water utilities by detecting leaks early.

Through this demonstration, Shizuoka City will begin its journey of introducing the latest technologies that contribute to the efficiency and soundness of the waterworks business; Azbil Kimmon, Toshiba Infra Systems, Nihon Water, and Toshin will further improve the accuracy of their cutting-edge technology; and Chubu Electric Power will create new value using the electricity smart meter communication network.

(Note) Ratio of total water supplied to metered water that generated revenue

[Demonstration test overview]