WATER METER SYSTEM AND METHOD OF USING A WATER METER FOR

DISPENSING WATER

Field of the Invention

The invention relates to a water meter system and a method of dispensing water using said system.

Background to the Invention

Populations and industries are growing world wide while water recourses remain limited. Human consumption is further increased by providing potable running water to more communities, especially in under privileged areas. Many countries are already experiencing water shortages and these shortages will grow if action is not taken. Large projects have convincingly proven that if control measures are introduced to limit wastage of water through indiscriminate usage and repairing leaks in reticulation systems four fifths of typical water usage can be saved.

This massive saving can remove the pressure on water resources and can also reduce the volume of water to be put through water purification and sewerage plants. The reduction in water consumption quoted was obtained through using pre pay metering systems.

A recent court case however ruled pre payment metering as unconstitutional if not in compliance with by-laws. If pre pay metering is not allowed, the industry would at

present be left without the means to protect the people at large against indiscriminate use of water by a large percentage of the population. Cost effective or affordable means would be lacking. The proposed system addresses all the aspects lacking or partly lacking in the pre-pay system. It provides the user with different options of metering to address individual needs while not relinquishing the responsibility of pro- actively protecting resources.

The inventor is aware of the need to control wastage and conserve water recourses through metering and various payment and control measures.

However, as access to water is a human right, even if the consumer is unable to pay for the water, access thereto should not merely be discontinued, for example, by shutting off a supply valve completely without due process and ample warning.

In South Africa, it appears from the recent High Court judgment that every person, regardless of their ability to pay is entitled to a supply of at least 50 litres of water per day per person.

Summary of the Invention

The invention thus aims to address the following aspects:

Free basic water applicable to all options:

• Can be provided per day per person per household;

• Is adjustable to meet legal and local requirements; and

The flow rate at which free basic water is provided meets legal requirements.

Options offered: All users may be offered three basic options or systems that use the same basic metering unit.

The water tariff of a particular option may be based on the administrative cost of the system.

For two of the options the water may never be cut off while the third option is a pre pay option which does cut the flow but has the lowest administration and running cost and therefore offers the lowest water tariff of the three.

It may only be installed if the user selects this option. Furthermore the user may, at any time, on paying a fee, for example R100, elect to change to one of the two other options.

Option 1 Conventional meter

The meter functions as an ordinary water meter. After the free basic water has been consumed the cost of extra water used is debited to the meter. The user must settle the account on a monthly basis at say any vending station. This can be done by cash payment, credit card or debit card. If a fixed network AMR system is installed payment can be by cell phone. If the user however fails to pay the account the system will automatically revert to

option 2. Option 1 will be restored when full payment is made and all regulatory conditions have been met.

Option 2 Conventional with set debt limit

This option is already built into the option 1 meter. When the conditions governing full flow of the option 1 meter is violated by say not settling the account on a monthly basis or if an option 2 meter was chosen by the user, the meter will automatically go to restricted flow when the free basic water has been used up and a pre-arranged debt limit is exceeded. The user can then restore free flow by purchasing credit at a vendor station or elect to manage on the restricted flow which must be paid for within a set number of months. Should the user not pay for the restricted flow water consumed within a set period, legal action may automatically follow.

Option 3 Pre-pay with or without life line flow

This option is the pre-pay option i.e. no debt limit allowed. Full flow is cut off after the free basic water has been used up, The user must purchase credit to restore full flow. This option can also be fitted with a life line flow valve.

Cost comparisons (projected)

Life line flow - all options Basic rate x Step factor

Option 1 2 x Basic rate x Step factor

Option 2 1.2 x Basic rate x Step factor

Option 3 Basic rate x Step factor

The step factor, typically 6 to seven steps, allows for step wise rate increases as consumption increases and is commonly used in various systems to discourage excessive usage.

Thus, there is provided a water meter system which includes:

a water flow meter;

a primary water valve for permitting normal water supply when it is operational;

a lifeline flow control valve, which may be located at a remote position, which permits a constant water flow oat an adjustable rate of above around 0.5 litres per minute, irrespective of line pressure, when the primary water valve is shut.

The lifeline flow control valve may be of the type described in a patent application filed for the same applicant on the same day as this application entitled "Liquid Dispensing Apparatus" and having as its priority number ZA2008/04146 of 14 May 2008.

The lifeline flow control valve may be self-cleaning.

The system may include, as presently in the public domain or in use, a control system which includes meters with on board computers for controlling meter functions and a meter management system (MMS) which includes or is operatively associated with data storage means onto which the names and/or other acceptable indentifying characteristics of users are loaded, said control system being configured to directly or indirectly actuate the primary water valve to a preset amount of water at a

predetermined time on predetermined days in response to the number of persons registered on the MMS.

The MMS may capture and control meter related data, which data can be conveyed via radio, vending units, or any other data transfer system.

The MMS may include or be operatively associated with a CPU which is programmed to process the data on the associated data storage means of the MMS. The processed data may either be for local use or for transmittal to a remote location.

The preset amount of water may be the free water allowance as may be required by law.

In accordance with the invention, once the preset amount of water has been dispensed, in the absence of other arrangements having been made, the system, as now proposed will only dispense water through the lifeline flow control valve at the lifeline flow rate of say above 0.5 litres per minute at a water pressure drop of say 0.5 Bar over the meter i.e. about 30 litres per hour.

The MMS may communicate with a central database to verify that those persons registered as users are entitled to be so registered.

According to a further aspect of the invention, there is provided a method for dispensing water, said method using a system as described above, said method including:

crediting the system with a predetermined value for free basic water (FBW) based on occupancy at a preset time on predetermined days;

metering all water dispensed from the system, including the FBW amount and recording same; and

checking whether the amount of water used, or the monetary value thereof, which has not been paid for, exceeds a predetermined amount for a predetermined period and, if so, then the primary water valve is shut off except for the periods when the FBW applies.

The method may extend to reactivating the primary water valve despite payment not having been made based on criteria such as need, period of arrears, and arrangements having been made upon presentation of a payment means of the system at an office or management point.

The reactivation of the primary water valve may be carried out for say three consecutive months merely upon presentation of the payment means for date stamping, where after this will not be possible without making arrangements. This is to allow a user, experiencing financial problems, sufficient time (say 3 months) to arrange payment terms with the governing body.

The data storage means may include one or more of a hard disk drive, flash ram, optical data storage, or the like.

Specific Description of the Invention

The invention will now be described, by way of non-limiting example only.

A water meter system includes a water flow meter, a primary or main automatic water shut off valve for permitting normal water supply when it is operational, and a lifeline flow control valve which permits a water flow of above 0.5 litres per minute when the primary water valve is shut.

When the main valve of the meter is closed the lifeline flow control valve is open. To meet SANS 1529-1 requirements (local meter type related legal requirements) the flow rate through the control valve must always be more than 0.5 litre per minute. We propose 0.6 litre per minute at a minimum pressure of 0.5 bar over the meter. At this flow rate it will take about 20 seconds to tap a cup full of water or 15 minutes to refill a toilet cistern. The lifeline flow is measured by the meter.

The flow rate stays almost constant over a range of 1 bar to 9 bar. The average flow is about 40 litre / hour.

At present, the local legal minimum flow rate for delivering the free basic water allowance,, is 30 litres / min. The minimum legal flow rate of the life line flow, which is meter type related, is 0.5 litres/minute or 30 litres /minute.

The control valve fitted to the meter may be changed out at any time for a control valve with a higher life line average flow or may be removed to convert the meter management system to a pre pay system.

The flow control valve is self cleaning

To conserve water to a minimum, we propose that all households obtain free water based on the number of people normally resident at the house. The MMS system can already capture the names and ID numbers of the residents and can run a check on the correctness of names against ID numbers if the MMS is linked to the national data base. Alternatively the generally used system of a fixed quantity of free basic water per household per month or per day may be considered, but is not recommended.

Ideally free water is to be provided on a daily basis released at about 4 am each morning.

Water Management Meter Options

The standard method for supplying water is to install a meter, read the meter each month and then bill the user. This is costly because of the debt collection cost and revenue collection costs via a billing system. It also does not effectively empower and incentivise the user to curtail consumption. The shortcomings can be addressed by installing a Water Management Meter which offers the following options.

Option 1 - Conventional

With this setting on the meter you still pay after you have received the water. The water consumption data is displayed in such a way that you can easily monitor and control usage and protect yourself from running up crippling accounts.

Every day, at about four in the morning, the meter will automatically credit you with the free water allowance for the day. This free basic water will be provided to you at least 10 litre / minute provided there is sufficient water pressure in the line.

When your free water for any day is used up, full flow will continue for the rest of the day. The quantity of water used above your free water allowance is charged for on a step tariff, to be published from time to time. You can at any time see how much FBW you have left for the day, how much pay-for water you have used in a month, how much you owe for the month and how much you owe in total. This total will include any debts outstanding. Should the authoristies, for whatever reason, write off some of your outstanding debt, the record on your meter will be adjusted accordingly.

Option 2 Conventional with set debt limit

When your outstanding water account for the previous month/s reaches a set limit of say R 50, your meter will, for those periods when you have no more free basic water left, automatically switch to life line flow.

To restore full flow, you can purchase more credit at a vendor station.

If you do not have money for extra credit, take your tag, place it on the tag reader of the meter, and then ask the vendor for a 'date stamp'. This will automatically be recorded as an official request not to pay your account that month, say due to financial problems experienced. Present your tag to the meter to restore full flow.

This allowance is made for three successive months only. If you are in arrears with your payments for more than three months and you have not made a presentation for

relief to council, action may be taken against you. The three month period of grace will be viewed as the notification period and legal action may follow without further notice.

The system and method may also allow for automatic meter reading (AMR) to be used by the authorities, typically on a walk by basis, to collect meter data for system management purposes.

Ideally to justify the lower rates offered with this option, it is a condition that users must put their tag on the meter once a month and then present the tag at a vending unit for data downloading. This would ensure that all meters are 'read' once a month and there would be no need for AMR or normal meter reading, thus avoiding the associated costs. Users who do not respond will be visited by a meter reader at a flat rate charge that will be entered on the meter as a debit when the meter is read.

Option 3 Pre-pay

This is the lowest cost option. Present your tag, containing the latest meter data, at a vending station to purchase credit. When your Free Basic Water and credit is used up the meter will shut off. You must purchase more credit to restore full flow. If a life line flow valve is fitted you will receive about 40i/hour life line flow which will be billed. If regular payments are not made the authorities may remove the life line valve.

The inventor believes that the invention, at least as illustrated, is both commercially and constitutionally viable.