After the
town of Cary, N.C., installed a water meter system that automatically radios
water usage to the public works department, it eliminated 10 meter-reading
positions. The water resources group operates today with a smaller
staff, thanks to the Internet of Things.
Workers
used to check some 60,000 water meters once a month. Now the new meters record
water usage each hour and transmit that usage data by radio four times per day.
Knowing
hourly water usage lets the department rapidly identify abnormal conditions.
Instead of having to field questions from testy customers surprised by high
bills, the water department now proactively contacts customers to alert them to
the possibility of a running toilet or garden hose. It's a revolutionary
change.
"What
we're doing is preventing anyone from ever getting a high bill," says
Karen Mills, the town's finance director. The water meters have been
"absolutely transformational," she says. The project cost about $18
million but is expected to save $28 million over the 17-year life of the
meters, in part because of reductions in staff.
Cary's
water-metering system has all the elements of an Internet of Things(IoT) project. It uses wireless
networks, sensors to collect data and cloud computing to process this data, and
it analyzes data using SAS businessanalytics tools.
The system
also accomplishes what economists say all types of systems can achieve with the
IoT: Make systems more efficient and productive, reduce waste and consequently,
help the environment.
There is
ongoing debate about whether the IoT, robotics and artificial intelligence
eliminate more jobs than they create. This verdict is still out, but there is
clear evidence that IoT projects need people with specific types of skills.
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