{"id":7224,"date":"2015-10-19T11:32:50","date_gmt":"2015-10-19T18:32:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/emrabc.ca\/?p=7224"},"modified":"2015-10-25T21:19:05","modified_gmt":"2015-10-26T04:19:05","slug":"owner-unhappy-smart-meter-didnt-catch-5k-water-leak","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emrabc.ca\/?p=7224","title":{"rendered":"Owner unhappy smart meter didn\u2019t catch $5k water leak"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Laura Rodgers – Abbotsford News – October 18, 2015<\/p>\n

\"Darshan<\/p>\n
Darshan Sharma, with the\u00a0sidewalk-mounted smart meter\u00a0for his business property on\u00a0Montrose Avenue.<\/p>\n
\u2014\u00a0image credit: Laura Rodgers \/ Abbotsford News<\/em><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Despite\u00a0a\u00a0high-tech\u00a0water\u00a0meter\u00a0with\u00a0real-time\u00a0monitoring,\u00a0one\u00a0Abbotsford\u00a0property\u00a0owner\u00a0didn\u2019t\u00a0know\u00a0his\u00a0pipes\u00a0were\u00a0leaking\u00a0until\u00a0heracked\u00a0up\u00a0more\u00a0than\u00a0$5,000\u00a0in\u00a0water\u00a0fees\u00a0\u2014\u00a0and\u00a0sent\u00a0over\u00a0half\u00a0a\u00a0million\u00a0litres\u00a0of\u00a0water\u00a0down\u00a0the\u00a0drain.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Darshan\u00a0Sharma,\u00a0who\u00a0rents\u00a0out\u00a0a\u00a0commercial\u00a0property\u00a0owned\u00a0by\u00a0his\u00a0wife\u00a0Nirmla\u00a0on\u00a0Montrose\u00a0Avenue,\u00a0was\u00a0surprised\u00a0to\u00a0get\u00a0a\u00a0water\u00a0billover\u00a0$500\u00a0two\u00a0weeks\u00a0ago.\u00a0His\u00a0building,\u00a0currently\u00a0rented\u00a0to\u00a0an\u00a0antique\u00a0furniture\u00a0seller,\u00a0has\u00a0two\u00a0toilets\u00a0and\u00a0three\u00a0sinks,\u00a0and\u00a0water\u00a0usagefor\u00a0the\u00a0property\u00a0has\u00a0seldom\u00a0exceeded\u00a0$20\u00a0per\u00a0month.\u00a0When\u00a0he\u00a0called\u00a0the\u00a0city,\u00a0they\u00a0told\u00a0him\u00a0his\u00a0next\u00a0water\u00a0bill\u00a0was\u00a0already\u00a0over\u00a0$5,000.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

He\u00a0hired\u00a0a\u00a0contractor\u00a0as\u00a0soon\u00a0as\u00a0he\u00a0could\u00a0to\u00a0replace\u00a0the\u00a0leaking\u00a0water\u00a0pipe,\u00a0which\u00a0cost\u00a0close\u00a0to\u00a0$3,000.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The\u00a0city\u00a0has\u00a0a\u00a0program<\/a>\u00a0to\u00a0forgive\u00a0large\u00a0water\u00a0bills\u00a0for\u00a0one-time\u00a0leaks,\u00a0and\u00a0Sharma\u00a0said\u00a0they\u2019ve\u00a0told\u00a0him\u00a0his\u00a0bill\u00a0will\u00a0likely\u00a0be\u00a0adjusted.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The\u00a0high\u00a0bill\u00a0was\u00a0doubly\u00a0surprising\u00a0for\u00a0him,\u00a0because\u00a0he\u00a0thought\u00a0his\u00a0Advanced\u00a0Metering\u00a0Infrastructure\u00a0(AMI)<\/a>\u00a0water\u00a0<\/a>meter<\/a>,\u00a0which\u00a0checkswater\u00a0usage\u00a0every\u00a0hour,\u00a0would\u2019ve\u00a0caught\u00a0the\u00a0major\u00a0leak\u00a0before\u00a0so\u00a0much\u00a0water\u00a0was\u00a0wasted.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow\u00a0come\u00a0nobody\u00a0even\u00a0bothered\u00a0to\u00a0call,\u00a0when\u00a0I\u2019m\u00a0losing\u00a0so\u00a0much\u00a0water?\u201d\u00a0Sharma\u00a0said.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Abbotsford\u2019s\u00a0smart\u00a0water\u00a0meters\u00a0were\u00a0introduced\u00a0in\u00a02010,\u00a0with\u00a0the\u00a0goal\u00a0of\u00a0reducing\u00a0water\u00a0usage\u00a0through\u00a0early\u00a0leak\u00a0detection\u00a0and\u00a0real-time\u00a0monitoring.\u00a0They\u00a0use\u00a0a\u00a0radio\u00a0frequency\u00a0transmitter\u00a0at\u00a0each\u00a0meter,\u00a0from\u00a0a\u00a0company\u00a0called\u00a0Itron,\u00a0which\u00a0regularly\u00a0sends\u00a0informationabout\u00a0each\u00a0customer\u2019s\u00a0water\u00a0usage\u00a0to\u00a0the\u00a0city\u2019s\u00a0utility\u00a0department.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In\u00a0a\u00a0press\u00a0release\u00a0sent\u00a0to\u00a0water-industry\u00a0news\u00a0sources\u00a0in\u00a02011,\u00a0then-mayor\u00a0George\u00a0W.\u00a0Peary\u00a0wrote,\u00a0\u201cWith\u00a0this\u00a0new\u00a0technology,\u00a0leakswill\u00a0be\u00a0detected\u00a0almost\u00a0as\u00a0soon\u00a0as\u00a0they\u00a0start\u00a0\u2026\u00a0residents\u00a0will\u00a0be\u00a0notified\u00a0almost\u00a0right\u00a0away\u00a0which\u00a0will\u00a0save\u00a0not\u00a0only\u00a0the\u00a0costs\u00a0associatedwith\u00a0leaks,\u00a0but\u00a0assist\u00a0with\u00a0conserving\u00a0the\u00a0city\u2019s\u00a0water\u00a0supply.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

According\u00a0to\u00a0Paul\u00a0Doucet,\u00a0the\u00a0Canadian\u00a0account\u00a0executive\u00a0for\u00a0Itron,\u00a0their\u00a0transmitters\u00a0sent\u00a0information\u00a0directly\u00a0from\u00a0customers\u00a0to\u00a0acity\u2019s\u00a0utility\u00a0department.\u00a0On\u00a0a\u00a0central\u00a0computer,\u00a0software\u00a0analyzes\u00a0this\u00a0information\u00a0to\u00a0figure\u00a0out\u00a0if\u00a0there\u00a0are\u00a0any\u00a0leaks.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

City\u00a0spokesperson\u00a0Katherine\u00a0Treloar\u00a0said\u00a0Abbotsford\u2019s\u00a0software\u00a0shows\u00a0a\u00a0leak\u00a0alert\u00a0for\u00a0residential\u00a0customers\u00a0if\u00a0they\u00a0have\u00a0no\u00a0periods\u00a0ofzero\u00a0water\u00a0usage\u00a0over\u00a0three\u00a0days.\u00a0For\u00a0commercial\u00a0customers,\u00a0the\u00a0system\u00a0is\u00a0more\u00a0complicated\u00a0\u2014\u00a0many\u00a0businesses\u00a0use\u00a0watercontinuously\u00a0\u2014\u00a0and\u00a0staff\u00a0compare\u00a0recent\u00a0and\u00a0past\u00a0usage\u00a0to\u00a0see\u00a0if\u00a0leaks\u00a0are\u00a0present.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Leak\u00a0alerts\u00a0are\u00a0then\u00a0used\u00a0by\u00a0the\u00a0city\u00a0to\u00a0send\u00a0leak\u00a0notifications\u00a0to\u00a0customers.\u00a0Some\u00a0cities\u00a0have\u00a0online\u00a0systems\u00a0or\u00a0automated\u00a0postcards;Abbotsford\u00a0uses\u00a0letters.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

But\u00a0Sharma\u00a0is\u00a0unhappy\u00a0with\u00a0how\u00a0long\u00a0it\u00a0took\u00a0for\u00a0him\u00a0to\u00a0know\u00a0about\u00a0the\u00a0leak\u00a0\u2014\u00a0because\u00a0of\u00a0how\u00a0much\u00a0water\u00a0was\u00a0wasted.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u00a0don\u2019t\u00a0want\u00a0to\u00a0lose\u00a0any\u00a0water,\u00a0because\u00a0we\u2019re\u00a0short\u00a0water\u00a0already,\u201d\u00a0Sharma\u00a0said.\u00a0If\u00a0nobody\u00a0[can]\u00a0check\u00a0the\u00a0meter,\u00a0what\u2019s\u00a0the\u00a0benefit\u00a0ofthe\u00a0smart\u00a0meter,\u00a0then?\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.abbynews.com\/news\/333358101.html<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Despite a high-tech water meter with real-time monitoring, one Abbotsford property owner didn\u2019t know his pipes were leaking until heracked up more than $5,000 in water fees \u2014 and sent over half a million litres of water down the drain. Darshan Sharma, who rents out a commercial property owned by his wife Nirmla on Montrose Avenue, was surprised to get a water billover $500 two weeks ago. His building, currently rented to an antique furniture seller, has two toilets and three sinks, and water usagefor the property has seldom exceeded $20 per month. When he called the city, they told him his next water bill was already over $5,000.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47,306,17,103,125,108,308,18,104,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7224","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-abbotsford","category-billing","category-bc","category-canada","category-damage","category-itron","category-leak","category-smart-meter","category-water-meter","category-wireless_devices"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/emrabc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7224","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/emrabc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/emrabc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emrabc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emrabc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7224"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/emrabc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7224\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7240,"href":"https:\/\/emrabc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7224\/revisions\/7240"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/emrabc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7224"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emrabc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7224"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emrabc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7224"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}