Water meters: Ags invests 5 million to make them smart

20 March 2024

On Garda smart water meters arrive: cost of the operation 5 million euro. The Azienda Gardesana Servizi of Peschiera is changing the water meters in the towns of the Riviera, putting new-generation ones in place of the old ones.

The announcement was made by Ags' number one, Angelo Cresco. In recent days, in fact, many people in Torri del Benaco, for example, have received in their mailboxes the announcement of the imminent arrival of a technician to replace the meters. Some wondered whether it was true or a scam, since it is not the first time that malicious people have passed themselves off as technicians in order to commit theft. President Cresco smiles and reassures everyone: "people rest assured, this is an operation of ours that is going ahead step by step and we actually have an agreement with these technicians to improve our services. The intervention consists of replacing the oldest meters, i.e. those that are at least ten years old since installation".

In this perspective, the municipalities directly concerned now are those in the upper lake: Garda, Torri, Brenzone and Malcesine. How many meters will be replaced? "There are about one thousand five hundred. Considering that the operation has been included in a Pnrr funding line, depending on the level of implementation, we will be able to replace between 5,000 and 12,000 meters this year.  The goal is to increase efficiency and move towards the gradual replacement of all mechanical meters with smart meters, which are similar in concept of operation to electricity meters. In this way, it will be possible to achieve the elimination of the burden of reading and self-reading and ensure the possibility of digitising the data with high potential for monitoring the network, both from the point of view of control by the private individual, and of management of the water resource by the Ags.

"The new meter allows for remote control and data collection without the need for the intervention of a meter reader, with advantages on the accuracy of the reading data and on the regularity of billing, ensuring an almost constant monitoring of consumption," they added from Ags. "The issue of the complete replacement of meters is an Ags goal: about 35 thousand meters will be replaced by 2025 for an investment worth about 5 million euros. We may be able, within two years, to replace 50 per cent of the meter fleet with smart systems. If we don't succeed, the goal will be pursued but with a longer time frame.



Article from Arena March 2024.