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News Release

German Town Deploys Sensus iPERL Smart Water Meter System

Initial deployment of 1,600 meters cuts failures, inspection times. Additional 1,400 meters to follow.

Sensus, a leading provider of clean technology solutions, has announced that the town of Bad Koenig, located near Darmstadt, Germany, has chosen the Sensus iPERL advanced water meter system to drive operational efficiencies after significant benefits to the city were demonstrated in a trial deployment.

Bad Koenig, a spa town of 9,300 covering an area of 47 km2 in Hesse State, installed 1,600 iPERL smart water meters and has now decided to procure an additional 1,400 units after the Sensus system significantly reduced meter failures and slashed inspection times to a fraction of their former level.

“We used to have failures of up to 30 meters a year caused by water hammer action, but since we began using iPERL this problem is history,” said Markus Kunkelmann, Facility Manager for Bad Koenig Waterworks.

Solid state electromagnetic measurement technology was one of the major reasons for choosing the iPERL system, said Kunkelmann, who pointed out that the very low starting measurement (1 l/h) and almost noiseless operation were important advantages over conventional meters.

Highly efficient and reliable radio technology was another reason for adopting iPERL, according to Kunkelmann: “During a drive-by test we could read 80 meters in a mere 10 minutes – it used to take us three hours to read the same number of meters.”

The positive effects on the business are already evident. “Optimization of operating costs, particularly in terms of manpower, is another benefit of iPERL and its communication technology,” Kunkelmann said.

“Bad Koenig, like many rural Japanese towns, was looking for cost-effective metering infrastructure scaled to its level of need,” said Andy Slater, Sensus Global Marketing Director. “Unlike electric and gas utilities, which operate across regions and enjoy the benefits of scale, Japan’s waterworks are hyper-local entities with limited resources.

“And whereas large metropolitan water utilities can support an implementation designed to deliver data wirelessly at frequent intervals, this was not the best solution for Bad Koenig, which wanted a reliable and labor-efficient system. We responded with a receiver-based system that achieves these goals.”

Sensus has deployed more than 2 million iPERL smart water meters worldwide since their launch over two years ago. Using solid state residual magnetic sensing technology, the lack of moving parts and wide measurement flow range combined with built-in radio communications has made iPERL an ideal foundation for customers wanting to develop a smart water network strategy.

About Sensus

Sensus is a leading clean technology solutions company offering smart meters, communication systems, software and services for the electric, gas, and water industries. Sensus technology helps utilities drive operational efficiency and customer engagement with applications that include advanced meter reading, data acquisition, demand response, distribution automation, home area networking and outdoor lighting control. Customers worldwide trust the innovation, quality and reliability of Sensus solutions for the intelligent use and conservation of energy and water. To follow Twitter updates from Sensus, visit http://twitter.com/sensussmartgrid.

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