Case study #117: SIPCOT
State Industries Promotion Corporation of Tamil Nadu (SIPCOT) finds
a solution to the challenge of effective water management in Smart Metering from Adept.
Adept has supplied 801 nos. of Smart Ultrasonic Water Meters along with 25 nos. of Smart Water Level Transmitters and MDM software.
About the requirement
Water is an essential requirement for every industry and no industrial unit in the Industrial Complexes managed by SIPCOT is an exception. To ensure efficient water supply, SIPCOT has developed large water networks in each industrial area, which are monitored centrally. The requirement of water for each unit differs depending on the scale and nature of the activity of the unit. Hence, SIPCOT provides water on a ‘pay-as-you-use’ basis to each one of them and bills them periodically depending on the consumption. The rate per litre of water may vary depending on the availability of water in each zone or even the season. SIPCOT purchases water from CMWSSB (Chennai Metro-politan Water Supply and Sewerage Board) and other such water authorities. It further distributes water to the industries and collects revenue. For effective audit of distributed water and collected revenue, as against sourced water, metering is necessary. Metering is also essential to find leakages and water losses. To know this, till now SIPCOT was dependent on mechanical water meters, which posed several challenges besides giving erroneous readings. Hence they were looking for a more reliable water metering system with automation features, which would enhance accuracy and efficiency while allowing greater control on operations from a centralised location.
Adept is proud to fulfil India’s largest order for Flowmeters and a Data Management System for the State Industries Promotion Corporation, Tamil Nadu, for the automation of its entire water network.
Challenges
SIPCOT has several industrial areas under its management. Each one is spread over several hundred hectares. As an infrastructure facilitator, SIPCOT has to ensure adequate water supply to every industrial unit in its industrial areas. Such water supply is on a chargeable basis.Presently, SIPCOT is relying on conventional mechanical water meters. Periodically, a person from SIPCOT visits each industrial unit and records the meter reading manually. All such data is compiled at the SIPCOT office and processed further for billing to individual units. The overall process has several drawbacks and limitations such as the following:
Inaccurate readings due to the use of mechanical meters
Laborious and time-consuming process of visiting every unit to take readings
Chances of manual error in recording/ processing the data
Delay in the billing process impacts revenue
Leakage/ pilferage can’t be known immediately resulting in wastage
Difficult to know Non-Revenue Water (NRW)
Difficult to have centralised monitoring
Designing a suitable system for such a vast network, its installation – hardware and software (including piping), managing routine operations of the system including collecting and analysing data, billing, identifying leakages, determining non-revenue water, etc. and routine maintenance of the system were some of the challenges faced by SIPCOT. To overcome this, SIPCOT was looking for a competent partner who could provide a holistic solution.
Solution
After a careful study of the entire operations by the expert team of Adept, we recommended JSW Steel with a system comprising the following.
1. Smart Ultrasonic Water Meters (DWM)
2. Smart Ultrasonic Flowmeters (UFM 6740)
3. Smart Water Level Transmitters
4. Meter Data Management (M.D.M.) Software Server PC
5. Integration with SIPCOT CRM Software for Billing
6. LoRaWAN-based Communication
7. O&M (Operation & Maintenance) for 5 years
The complete scope included supply, installation, integration, testing and commissioning of Ultrasonic Smart Water Flowmeters and Smart Water Level Transmitters along with a Data Management System plus O&M for a period of five years at the SIPCOT Industrial Park.Besides recommending an optimal solution, our advanced technology, reliable products, ability to manufacture large quantities in a short time and previous experience in handling such projects competently helped us bag the order.
Features of Ultrasonic Smart Water Flow Meters and Ultrasonic Smart Water Level Transmitters with advanced features and reliable build –
The meters are equipped with IP68 protection for indoor and outdoor operations
Battery life of 7 years
Corrosion-resistant water meter body made up of engineering polymer
Inline ultrasonic water meter. No moving parts.
Working pressure – 10 bars
Environmental temperature 0 to 55ºC
Tamper-proof and capable of raising alerts in case of attempt to tamper or failure
FCRI tested with accuracy class B as per ISO 4064
Benefits
Efficient management of resources
Complete centralised control of distribution
Ensuring equitable water distribution
Accurate readings and ease of maintenance
Timely billing in a transparent manner
Estimation of NRW (Non-Revenue Water)
Identification of leakage/ pilferage in water networks
Effective record-keeping for future management
Distribution network water audit visibility
Transparent business model
Meter readings can be obtained remotely without disturbing customer privacy
Easy scalability
Features of Data Management and Billing Platform
For data management, a complete software has been developed in house by Adept’s team of specialist. It also provides a billing platform for further automation. The software server installation has been done at ELCOT (Electronics Corporation of Tamil Nadu Limited), which is a wholly owned undertaking of the Government of Tamil Nadu.
Captures the data from the meters and provides consumer-wise data in a graphical/ tabular format.
This data is used for billing, as per the billing cycle.
Facility to change the billing tariff.
Administrative rights, alerts and credentials for at least 2 users to view/ manage/ edit/ add customers.
The administrators receive all the alerts via email and mobile.
Automatic generation of bills.
Viewing rights & alerts to customers.
Each administrator can view water usage data of all consumers.
Provides downloadable reports in spreadsheet format.
A tampering alert in case of wreckage, security breaches, etc.
The system is integrated with the existing SIPCOT Portal for unit-wise consumption and billing details.
Area-wise distribution details, daily distribution, monthly distribution, and billing cycle-wise distribution details are available in graphical form.
An option for integration with payment gateway.
The dashboard shows the status of the total capacity, deficient supply count and volume along with excess supply and volume, and a list of water sources with excess and deficient supply.
Shows dashboards of all sites, with a site-wise display based on user roles.
Graphical representation of excess filling, partial filling, raw water intake volume vs. water distributed is available.
The water level at each tank is monitored and provides notifications to the administrators to activate the pumping station and also to send notifications for overflow in the sump and overhead tanks.
SIPCOT supplies water to the industrial units housed at Industrial parks / complexes and collects charges from user industries based on consumption. As a part of its smart initiative, SIPCOT proposes to replace the existing analog water meter with smart water meters along with data management system at all industrial parks / complexes.
About the requirement
Water is an essential requirement for every industry and no industrial unit in the Industrial Complexes managed by SIPCOT is an exception. To ensure efficient water supply, SIPCOT has developed large water networks in each industrial area, which are monitored centrally. The requirement of water for each unit differs depending on the scale and nature of the activity of the unit. Hence, SIPCOT provides water on a ‘pay-as-you-use’ basis to each one of them and bills them periodically depending on the consumption. The rate per litre of water may vary depending on the availability of water in each zone or even the season.
SIPCOT purchases water from CMWSSB (Chennai Metro-politan Water Supply and Sewerage Board) and other such water authorities. It further distributes water to the industries and collects revenue. For effective audit of distributed water and collected revenue, as against sourced water, metering is necessary. Metering is also essential to find leakages and water losses.
To know this, till now SIPCOT was dependent on mechanical water meters, which posed several challenges besides giving erroneous readings. Hence they were looking for a more reliable water metering system with automation features, which would enhance accuracy and efficiency while allowing greater control on operations from a centralised location.
Adept is proud to fulfil India’s largest order for Flowmeters and a Data Management System for the State Industries Promotion Corporation, Tamil Nadu, for the automation of its entire water network.
Challenges
SIPCOT has several industrial areas under its management. Each one is spread over several hundred hectares. As an infrastructure facilitator, SIPCOT has to ensure adequate water supply to every industrial unit in its industrial areas. Such water supply is on a chargeable basis.
Presently, SIPCOT is relying on conventional mechanical water meters. Periodically, a person from SIPCOT visits each industrial unit and records the meter reading manually. All such data is compiled at the SIPCOT office and processed further for billing to individual units. The overall process has several drawbacks and limitations such as the following:
Inaccurate readings due to the use of mechanical meters
Laborious and time-consuming process of visiting every unit to take readings
Chances of manual error in recording/ processing the data
Delay in the billing process impacts revenue
Leakage/ pilferage can’t be known immediately resulting in wastage
Difficult to know Non-Revenue Water (NRW)
Difficult to have centralised monitoring
Designing a suitable system for such a vast network, its installation – hardware and software (including piping), managing routine operations of the system including collecting and analysing data, billing, identifying leakages, determining non-revenue water, etc. and routine maintenance of the system were some of the challenges faced by SIPCOT. To overcome this, SIPCOT was looking for a competent partner who could provide a holistic solution.
Solution
After a careful study of the entire operations by the expert team of Adept, we recommended JSW Steel with a system comprising the following.
1. Smart Ultrasonic Water Meters (DWM)
2. Smart Ultrasonic Flowmeters (UFM 6740)
3. Smart Water Level Transmitters
4. Meter Data Management (M.D.M.) Software Server PC
5. Integration with SIPCOT CRM Software for Billing
6. LoRaWAN-based Communication
7. O&M (Operation & Maintenance) for 5 years
The complete scope included supply, installation, integration, testing and commissioning of Ultrasonic Smart Water Flowmeters and Smart Water Level Transmitters along with a Data Management System plus O&M for a period of five years at the SIPCOT Industrial Park.
Besides recommending an optimal solution, our advanced technology, reliable products, ability to manufacture large quantities in a short time and previous experience in handling such projects competently helped us bag the order.
Features of Ultrasonic Smart Water Flow Meters and Ultrasonic Smart Water Level Transmitters with advanced features and reliable build –
The meters are equipped with IP68 protection for indoor and outdoor operations
Battery life of 7 years
Corrosion-resistant water meter body made up of engineering polymer
Inline ultrasonic water meter. No moving parts.
Working pressure – 10 bars
Environmental temperature 0 to 55ºC
Tamper-proof and capable of raising alerts in case of attempt to tamper or failure
FCRI tested with accuracy class B as per ISO 4064
Benefits
Efficient management of resources
Complete centralised control of distribution
Ensuring equitable water distribution
Accurate readings and ease of maintenance
Timely billing in a transparent manner
Estimation of NRW (Non-Revenue Water)
Identification of leakage/ pilferage in water networks
Effective record-keeping for future management
Distribution network water audit visibility
Transparent business model
Meter readings can be obtained remotely without disturbing customer privacy
Easy scalability
Features of Data Management and Billing Platform
For data management, a complete software has been developed in house by Adept’s team of specialist. It also provides a billing platform for further automation. The software server installation has been done at ELCOT (Electronics Corporation of Tamil Nadu Limited), which is a wholly owned undertaking of the Government of Tamil Nadu.
Captures the data from the meters and provides consumer-wise data in a graphical/ tabular format.
This data is used for billing, as per the billing cycle.
Facility to change the billing tariff.
Administrative rights, alerts and credentials for at least 2 users to view/ manage/ edit/ add customers.
The administrators receive all the alerts via email and mobile.
Automatic generation of bills.
Viewing rights & alerts to customers.
Each administrator can view water usage data of all consumers.
Provides downloadable reports in spreadsheet format.
A tampering alert in case of wreckage, security breaches, etc.
The system is integrated with the existing SIPCOT Portal for unit-wise consumption and billing details.
Area-wise distribution details, daily distribution, monthly distribution, and billing cycle-wise distribution details are available in graphical form.
An option for integration with payment gateway.
The dashboard shows the status of the total capacity, deficient supply count and volume along with excess supply and volume, and a list of water sources with excess and deficient supply.
Shows dashboards of all sites, with a site-wise display based on user roles.
Graphical representation of excess filling, partial filling, raw water intake volume vs. water distributed is available.
The water level at each tank is monitored and provides notifications to the administrators to activate the pumping station and also to send notifications for overflow in the sump and overhead tanks.
Adept has successfully completed this project, which was one of the single largest orders for Flowmeters in India, in record time. Presently, we are flawlessly executing the O&M Contract which is in force till the year 2028.
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