Significant cost savings for water supply companies thanks to the portable ultrasonic flow meter

Companies in the water sector often supply large areas with drinking water via extensive pipe networks. Suitable measurement points are often located in remote areas, are difficult to access and rarely have a power supply. In such cases, a portable flow meter is ideal, as it is both robust against environmental influences and has its own power supply.

The town of Wädenswil (Switzerland) eventually found what it was looking for with Katronic and its Swiss distribution partner, Rolf Muri AG. Working together with the customer, a solution was devised that allowed measurements to be carried out over a longer period, thereby enabling conclusions to be drawn regarding the correct sizing of the pipework network. Peak consumption levels were of particular interest, as it was hoped that reducing the pipe cross-section would result in more thorough flushing of the pipes. Water losses of around one litre per second were also to be eliminated through the modernisation.

Once all the relevant application parameters were known, it was decided to hire a KATflow 210 portable ultrasonic flow meter to carry out the measurement task. With its robust housing meeting protection class IP 67, the device was suitable for remaining installed outdoors on site, regardless of weather conditions. The long-life rechargeable batteries built into the flow meter ensured that measurements could be carried out over several weeks even without an external power supply.

Once a suitable measurement point had been excavated, the measuring device was commissioned by the Swiss distribution partner. To enable the measured values to be read out quickly and easily in the office via the device interfaces, Rolf Muri AG provided the Tetraedre system for remote data transmission. The recorded values confirmed that even with pipes of smaller nominal diameters than the previously standard pipe diameter of 400 mm, the maximum consumption peaks were not exceeded. Furthermore, the proportion of successful flushing operations in the pipework system increased significantly to 86 per cent (previously 26 per cent), which in turn leads to lower water consumption.

The customer has achieved massive savings in the six-figure range by installing smaller pipes into the existing pipeline network, thereby avoiding costly earthworks.