Chattogram Water Supply and Sewerage Authority (WASA) is going to start the installation of 3,000 smart meters in the first phase under the pilot project to solve the long-standing water wastage problem known as system loss or non-revenue sector.
The project director said a positive report was received from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) after sending the meters to BUET for testing before installation.
In the first phase, Chattogram WASA is working on a plan to install smart meters in the city's Chandgaon and its surrounding areas at a cost of Tk 5.8 crore.
Local agent Padma Smart Technology of the American company will do the installation work within the next two months.
The bills of residential and commercial customers in the area will be calculated with these digital meters. WASA has taken the initiative of digitising the meter system to reduce the suffering of customers due to meter readers, sources said.
"These meters do not require any reader. Without human touch, the meter reading will be auto-transferred to the central server. If it is turned on, water theft will stop. Water wastage will also be reduced," the source added.
Chattogram WASA Chief Engineer Maksud Alam told BSS that the installation work of smart meters will start within the next two months. A positive report has been received from BUET after sending the meters to them for testing before installation, he added.
"If the pilot project is successfully implemented, we will gradually bring all the customers under the smart meter in the entire city," he said.
Chattogram WASA Smart Meter Installation Project Director and Chattogram WASA ICT Circle System Analyst Engineer Shafiqul Basar told BSS that 3,000 meters will be installed under the pilot project.
The tender was called on January 11, 2022.
In early 2020, five smart meters based on LORA Gateway were installed on a trial basis. These experimental meters were installed at High Level Road and Bagghona in the city’s Lalkhanbazar area.
Chattogram WASA took up this pilot project after finding success in the meter's performance after one year of use.
The daily non-revenue amount of water is about 12 crore litres and Chattogram WASA is losing more than Tk 45 crore in revenue every year. Officials hoped that water wastage and illegal sales can be prevented if bills are calculated through digital meters.
