In the mountainous Vacarisses municipality near Barcelona, the local water utility faced challenges with both old technology, drought problems, and leakages in the pipe network. In 2022, Vacarisses was mandated by Spanish authorities to initiate supply cuts. One of the actions to solve the technical challenges was to replace their old water meters with new digital meters.

The local water utility was challenged with a combination of old technology, drought, and leakages coming from unknown parts of the pipe network. As a result, leaks in the pipe network were equivalent to 40% of the total consumption. The municipality’s water consumption was monitored via 2,900 mechanical meters – most of them 20-30 years old. The meters were estimated to have lost between 20-100% of their accuracy. The pipe network covers 17 towns along more than 100 km of roads, taking the municipality 21 days to read the meters manually.

After a market study, Vacarisses chose Kamstrup’s flowIQ® 2200 smart water meter with integrated Acoustic Leakage Detection to minimise water loss, save money, and save time. They replaced the old mechanical water meters, while Kamstrup’s READy Mobile Reading app provided them a simple way to track the location of the old meters, along with a photograph and their current reading, which is then transferred to the new meters.

The next step is a fixed reading network, allowing end users to monitor consumption and receive leak warnings via an app.

After only three months, Vacarisses could measure the advantages of the Kamstrup smart technology:

• One major leak located immediately. When fixed, it saved the municipality €5,600 per year
• Meter reading time reduced from 21 days to less than 5 hours
• Leaks found equal to about 15% of total consumption

Savings of more than €70,000 per year.