Smart water meters to drive 1.2bn connections by 2022

Water utilities are expected to drive global smart meter growth to 1.2 billion connections by 2022. That’s according to ABI Research, which forecasts this will cause smart metering connections across […]

Water utilities are expected to drive global smart meter growth to 1.2 billion connections by 2022.

That’s according to ABI Research, which forecasts this will cause smart metering connections across the electricity, water and gas markets to witness double-digit growth over the next five years.

While North America installed the most smart water meters in 2016, ABI says the European market will marginally overtake this connection growth and hold the largest ‘install base’ by 2018.

The group says when more people migrate from rural areas to urban centres, increasing water security concerns will fuel smart water meter growth.

New network technologies will also further enable water utilities to incorporate smart metering into their organisational workflows.

However, there may be a short term dip before this growth.

Adarsh Krishnan, Senior Analyst at ABI Research, said: “Except for China, the pace of smart electricity meter installations will slow down in the short term.

“This is due to the delayed implementation of large metering projects planned for Western Europe, Latin America and the Asia-Pacific region.”

For instance, the UK government, which first mandated a nationwide rollout of smart meters by 2014, is still experiencing delays.

A software company has won a contract to support the UK’s smart meter rollout with an innovative service.

Latest Podcast