Meter Reading Systems

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to meter reading systems and devices in particular to systems and methods for low cost detection of consumer-side water leaks.

BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION

Water leakage from pipes causes expense to water utility providers by both the value of the water, and fines imposed by regulators (to reduce wasted water). Leaks may occur in pipework in various places around the water network. One possible location for leaks is on the customer side of a water-metered property.

Various technologies exist to enable a householder to detect water leaks on their property by detecting the aftermath of a leak - water building up in an unexpected area - and typically sounding an audible alarm. However many leaks occur in the grounds of a property, underground, or in areas of a home where leaked water may not be easily observed by the householder. This can cause large volumes of leaked water, and costs to the water provider.

Water meters monitor the flow rate of water into the premises, above some minimum threshold; measurements of water flow over a time period can be used to detect leakage in various ways. As well as having a screen to display water consumption information, the rate of flow of water through a meter is sometimes provided as a pulse output, with a magnetic or other pulse emitted each time a fixed volume of water has passed through the meter. Some systems for detecting leakage are positioned with the water meter, and use the pulse output or other output of the meter to detect flow rate; leakage information is then displayed on a screen. This requires that the householder, or a technician from

the utility company, reads the screen regularly or occasionally to monitor leaks.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

We will describe a lower cost system for detecting leaks in water pipes on the consumer side of a water meter. This system comprises a device which will be colocated with the water meter, and a management system which supplies, retrieves, and reads the device, to provide leakage information as a dataset across a number of households. By using a low power radio, the device itself and the data collection system can operate at low cost, and a high throughput of devices can be processed quickly.

In one aspect the invention provides a meter reading system comprising: at least one meter data manager computer system; and a plurality of physically separate meter reading devices; wherein each of said meter reading devices is configured to enable a householder to releasably attach a said meter reading device to a domestic utility meter, and wherein a said meter reading device, when attached, is able to read usage data from said domestic utility meter, said usage data representing usage of a consumable utility monitored by said domestic utility meter; and wherein each of said meter reading devices and said at least one meter data manager computer system has a short-range data communications link to enable bidirectional communications between each of said meter reading devices and said at least one meter data manager computer system, wherein said meter data manager computer system includes a data store for storing at least address information for a set of domestic users of said consumable utility, and corresponding utility consumption information for each household monitored by a said domestic utility meter; wherein said meter data manager computer system includes program code to control issue and retrieval of a said meter reading device, wherein said issue comprises: printing of an address label for dispatching of a said meter reading device to a household at said address and downloading address identification data to the meter reading device via said bi-directional communications link to identify the address to which said device is dispatched; and wherein said retrieval comprises: uploading said usage data or data derived from said usage data from a said meter reading device in association with said address identification data, and storing said usage data or data

derived from said usage data in said data store in association with the address identified by said address identification data; whereby, in use, said meter reading system is able to dispatch a plurality of said meter reading devices to a plurality of different households and afterwards retrieve and store utility consumption information relating to said households in said data store.

In another aspect the invention provides a meter reading device for the meter reading system, in particular comprising: a processor, non-volatile memory for storing said usage data or data derived from said usage data; program memory storing code for controlling said processor; and a system for remotely reading a said domestic utility meter; and short-range data communications link to enable bidirectional communications between said meter reading device and said meter data manager computer system; wherein said code includes code to receive and store in said nonvolatile memory said address identification data, code to input and store in said nonvolatile memory data relating to consumption of said consumable utility by a said household, and code to upload said data relating to consumption of said consumable utility by a said household to said meter data manager computer system in association with said address identification data.

In another aspect the invention provides a meter data manager computer system, including a data store for storing at least address information for a set of domestic users of said consumable utility, and corresponding utility consumption information for each household monitored by a said domestic utility meter; wherein said meter data manager computer system includes program code to control issue and retrieval of a said meter reading device, wherein said issue comprises: printing of an address label for dispatching of a said meter reading device to a household at said address and download address identification data to the meter reading device via said bi-directional communications link to identify the address to which said device is dispatched; and wherein said retrieval comprises: uploading said usage data or data derived from said usage data from a said meter reading device in association with said address identification data, and storing said usage data or data derived from said usage data in said data store in association with the address identified by said address identification data.

In a further aspect the invention provides a method of reading a plurality of utility consumption meters, the method using a plurality of separate meter reading devices, the method comprising, for a plurality of said meter reading devices: associating a said meter reading device with an address; writing address identification data to said meter reading device; sending said meter reading device to said address; monitoring consumption of a utility at said address using said meter reading device; receiving said meter reading device from said address; retrieving from said meter reading device said address identification data and data from said utility consumption monitoring; and storing said data from said utility consumption monitoring or data derived from said data from said utility consumption monitoring in association with information identifying said address at which said utility consumption was monitored.

Embodiments of the systems, devices and methods are particularly useful for leak detection.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other aspects of the invention will now be further described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying figures in which:

Figure 1 shows the leakage monitoring device as a block diagram of the hardware;

Figure 2 shows a dispatch station for setting up the device, in the leakage monitoring centre;

Figure 3 shows a reception station for retrieving data from the device, in the leakage monitoring centre; and

Figure 4 shows a flowchart of what happens to the device through a usage cycle (from setup at the leakage monitoring centre, usage at the remote site, to retrieval of data back at the leakage monitoring centre).

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

The device itself (Figure 1) comprises a sealed case (5), containing a battery (1), a low power radio communications transceiver (2), a microcontroller^) and a sensor which can detect pulse outputs from water meters (4). The microcontroller may optionally be integrated into the same chip as the radio transceiver; the microcontroller will also include some nonvolatile memory either built in to the same package or associated with it. The device, being low cost, is unlikely to include a screen to display leakage data, unlike existing leakage detectors which commonly use a screen. The battery is not designed to be replaced by the user and may be either replaceable at the leakage monitoring centre by hand or automatically, or may be sealed in and entirely not replaceable. The case itself must be sufficiently sealed against the elements and the device must be capable of operating under the conditions where water meters are installed (for example outdoors, underground). This low cost device forms part of the novelty of this invention.

The low power radio system used by the device transceiver may be ZigBee (in the preferred implementation), or another low power radio system such as Z- wave, EnOcean, proprietary radio systems operating in the ISM bands at 868/914MHz or 2.4GHz, or other radio systems. If desired, the radio communications may be cryptographically secured by means of a cryptographic algorithm and secret key.

At the remote site, the customer attaches the device to their water meter for some minimum period of time which may be 24 hours, a week, a month or any other interval preferred by the device operator, e.g. the water utility. In general the device is made easy for customers to fit, so that adequate coupling with the meter's pulse output is obtained without requiring special skills or tools. The mechanical design of the device may be specific to an expected model of water meter. Water utilities typically standardise on a single model, or family of models, of water meters, so that only a single design of leakage-detecting device is needed in each water utility's operating area.

Water meter pulse outputs are typically obtained by placing a reed switch in proximity to a magnet attached to a moving part of the meter's water flow measurement mechanism. Each time the magnet moves past, i.e. when a known volume of water has flowed through the meter, the reed switch's magnetic contacts are momentarily magnetised and open or close according to their design, thus completing or breaking an electrical sensing circuit. An alternative pulse mechanism relies on detection of voltage induced in a conducting sensing loop by the magnet as it moves past. Many other pulse outputs giving a momentary signal each time a given volume of water flows through the meter may be imagined. In each case a suitably adapted monitoring device is necessary.

Once in place the monitoring device is activated by detection of the first output pulse and begins recording the time of arrival of each pulse. This time may be time elapsed since the first pulse, since activation, since dispatch, or since the previous pulse, or a time of day. The device may continue to record pulse times during the entire period of its installation. Alternatively it may limit the number of records by number of pulses, by time period, or by other limits, hi addition it may perform some processing of the data, for instance it may calculate the minimum observed flow rate over any one hour period in order to determine the presence and magnitude of any leak.

The user receives a device, return packaging and/or addressing information, and instructions relating to how to use the device in a mailed-out package, sent from the leakage monitoring centre to the remote premises. The user installs the device on the water meter of the remote premises, leaves it there for some minimum or recommended period of time, and then returns it (to the leakage monitoring centre) via mail in the supplied packaging, optionally with supplied addressing information and optionally with supplied prepaid postage.

The leakage monitoring centre is where devices are prepared for distribution, and where returned devices are processed, and leakage data collected and collated with information about the remote sites where the devices were used. The streamlined nature of the process and system of the leakage monitoring centre, enabled by the novel use of cheap two-way radio technology, comprises a proportion of the novelty of this invention.

Consider the dispatch section of the leakage monitoring centre (Figure 2). Each dispatch station includes a pad where the device is placed for setup (2); during this period the device will be enabled for dispatch by a series of radio communications. Physically near this pad is a basestation comprising a low power radio transceiver (3) (using the same radio system as that selected for the device) and some controlling computer system (5). The basestation in a preferred implementation uses a radio transmit power less than the maximum possible for the radio standard, so that multiple dispatch stations may co-exist in one room or area.

The operator places the device on the device scanning pad (2). The low power radio basestation (3) then sets up a radio connection to the device, either:

1. waits until it notices a device joining its low power radio network or receives a transmission from such a device or

2. repeatedly transmits a radio message until a response is received from a device or

3. signalling the device to commence radio communications by means of a distinctive pattern of pulses delivered to the meter pulse sensor mechanism or using any other method to set up communications between itself and the device.

In a preferred implementation, the basestation is a Coordinator of a ZigBee network, with network joining enabled on the network, and the device joins this network as an End Device.

The database (7) will provide details of the next remote site to receive a leakage detection device to the dispatch station via a network connection (6); this network connection may be a local computer link or via the internet or other network; the details will include a full shipping address and optionally other identifying information. This information is used by a packaging label producer (4), which will produce a label for shipping. This label will include address details of the remote site to be served, as well as optionally a unique identifying mark (which could be a barcode, an RPID tag, a QR code, or another kind of code) and optionally postage-paid coding details. The dispatch

station data interface (5) will also pass the address information for the remote site to the low power radio basestation (3), which will transmit this information to the device. This address information may be provided to the device as raw address information, abbreviated address information, a code encapsulating this information, or as a customer account number or other code which uniquely identifies the customer remote site. The device stores this information in memory.

The operator of the dispatch station will place the enabled device into a packaging unit, and will affix the label onto the packaging. The whole package is now ready for dispatch, with the device programmed with a remote site address which matches the packaging address label.

On receipt of the package from a user at a remote site, the reception side of the leakage monitoring plant processes the package at a reception station (Figure 3).

The operator unpacks the device and places it on the device scanning pad (2). The low power radio transceiver in the basestation (3) then sets up a radio connection to the device, either:

1. waits until it notices a device joining its low power radio network or receives a transmission from such a device or

2. repeatedly transmits a radio message until a response is received from a device or

3. signalling the device to commence radio communications by means of a distinctive pattern of pulses delivered to the meter pulse sensor mechanism or using any other method to set up communications between itself and the device.

In a preferred implementation, the basestation is a Coordinator of a ZigBee network, with network joining enabled on the network, and the device joins this network as an End Device.

The basestation (3) can now download both the leakage data and the information about

what property the device was installed at, from the device; this information is sent to the data collection system (4). This is a novel aspect of the system. The method by which this is achieved, in a preferred implementation, is that the basestation sends a command to the device requesting the device to transmit the address information and leakage information, and the device then transmits one or more messages to the basestation containing this information. Other protocols for the radio messaging could also be used. The basestation in a preferred implementation uses a radio transmit power less than the maximum possible for the radio standard, so that multiple reception stations may coexist in one room or area.

The data collection system (4) sends the leakage data and property information to the database (6) together, via a network link (5).

The device may or may not then be "reset" or have its internal memory cleared, on receipt of a command or commands from the basestation; if so it can then be reused. Whether or not this occurs depends on the way in which the basestation is configured, and may be dependent on information such as battery level reporting from the device.

When the basestation (3) has downloaded the leakage data from the device, and reset it if required, this is indicated to the operator, who can move onto the next device. The basestation may optionally include visual or audio indications to the operator to indicate when the various stages of data download and reset are completed. It may also be able to indicate if the device battery is depleted such that the device cannot be reused with its current battery.

The overall process undergone by a device in a usage cycle is shown in Figure 4. Stages 6,7 and 8 occur at the remote site where the water leakage is being monitored; the other stages occur at the leakage monitoring centre.

Overall the time for processing a leakage detection device, both at dispatch and reception, is very short, meaning that few person-hours are needed to ship even large numbers of devices, making the process of monitoring a large number of properties for water leaks cheap and efficient. The dispatch and retrieval station operators may be

people or machines.

This invention could be applied to remote site premises other than domestic homes, such as small offices and other premises with water meters.

It is anticipated that the majority of savings made through use of this device and data retrieval system will come when large numbers of properties are to be monitored.

The basestations used in dispatch and receipt may be the same hardware and software, or may be the same hardware utilising different software; it is therefore possible for one basestation to be used for both purposes if required.

No doubt many other effective alternatives will occur to the skilled person. It will be understood that the invention is not limited to the described embodiments and encompasses modifications apparent to those skilled in the art lying within the spirit and scope of the claims appended hereto.