Water management is yet another problem in our daily lives that can benefit from improvements brought about by advancement and acceleration digital transformation. NB-IoT can help with this as well. Let’s see how.

But first, what is this technology?

What is NB-IoT?

In short, NB-IoT (NarrowBand Internet of Things) is a wireless communication aimed at addressing the different connectivity needs of various Internet of Things (IoT) devices, a LPWA (Low Power Wide Area) technology that is based on LTE (Long Term Evolution).

This technology has a number of characteristics: low power consumption, low data transmission speed, longer data transmission range and low cost.

These characteristics mean that we are dealing with connections with less interference and with very good coverage.

Various fields such as agriculture, logistics, industry or smart cities may rely on this technology to improve their performance or services due to various possible uses of NB-IoT.

Another area where NarrowBand IoT can help is in the more efficient management of water, a substance so valuable and relevant in today’s society that it even has a specific day, namely March 22.

NB-IoT use case. Telefónica Tech solution for water management

Smart water management helps to improve the operation and maintenance of the whole cycle of this precious clear liquid.

Based on IoT sensors, the Telefónica Tech solution enables the centralized management of the fundamental pillars of the integral cycle:

• Capture infrastructures.
• Plants responsible for both purification and treatment of drinking water, as well as sewerage and distribution networks.
• Metering equipment for business operations issues such as accounting, invoicing, customer relations and field work.

Benefits of using NB-IoT

The implementation of NB-Internet of Things technology brings a number of benefits to the many issues related to the digital transformation of the water cycle.

Through the common view and centralized integration of the different managed farms, together with the reception and visualization of alarm signals and the export of reports with parameters and trends, it helps in more effective management.

These features enable a number of benefits, such as extending the life of devices and assets, as well as minimizing losses by detecting and reporting imperceptible leaks.

In addition, the ability to know exact consumption without estimates helps achieve true billing, resulting in fewer complaints about metering errors and greater customer satisfaction.

The NB-IoT success story

A success story of using NB-IoT technology in water management is that of Global Omnium, which has hundreds of thousands of telereading water meters.

The optimized management of all meters makes it possible to detect leaks in distribution networks, as well as the ability to know consumption in real time or to identify hypothetical meter failures at an early stage.

The implementation of the NB-IoT network, in addition to the improvements mentioned above, also serves to reduce CO2 emissions, notably by 1,400 tons. This is achieved by producing a little more than five cubic hectometres of water per year to provide the same service.