Water is one of our most valuable resources – and not just since global warming. With IoT solutions, Deutsche Telekom supports utilities worldwide in reducing water losses and making supply more efficient and sustainable.
In Germany, public drinking water supply is mainly in the hands of local authorities and municipalities. With coverage of over 99%, almost every building in Germany is connected to the public drinking water network. Responsibility for ensuring a seamless supply is shared by over 6,000 suppliers. The German drinking water pipe network is over 540,000 kilometres long, which is enough to circle the earth more than 13.5 times. Around 4.7 billion cubic metres of water flow through these pipes every year.
Overall, this extensive network of pipes forms the basis of the drinking water supply, ensuring comprehensive, high-quality supply to the population. Since most of the drinking water pipes are laid underground to protect them from external influences, faults such as leaks in the pipes are often not immediately apparent. A large part of the pipe network was laid between 1960 and 1980. Many of these pipes are now reaching the end of their standard technical service life and are approaching their expected ‘end of life’. This makes it all the more important for water suppliers to detect leaks at an early stage.
Not least due to ageing pipes, water losses are a costly challenge for water suppliers. In addition to financial consequences, such as increased operating costs, and ecological consequences, such as water wastage, additional damage to roads and buildings can also lead to infrastructure impairments. For suppliers, the primary goal is to minimise these losses and ensure security of supply.
At the same time, the industry is facing another critical development: a shortage of skilled workers. Due to legal requirements under the Measurement and Calibration Act (MessEG), water meters must generally be replaced after six years. This requires a high level of personnel expenditure and high process costs.
Advantage for utilities: once Heitland's ultrasonic water meter has been installed, it is immediately connected to Telekom's existing comprehensive NB-IoT network. The utility company can get started right away and rely on Deutsche Telekom for availability and security, regardless of the availability of the homeowner's Wi-Fi or other networks that are not available everywhere, such as LoRa or Mioty. Heitland was also impressed by the excellent service and high availability, because this is exactly the kind of service they want to pass on to their customers.
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The Solingen-based company Ernst Heitland specialises in the manufacture of consumption meters for water, gas and heat. Their customers include water supply companies, cities and municipalities from Germany as well as from Austria, Switzerland and several other European countries.
Even though the German market and its regulations are unique in terms of calibration cycles and installation situation, the solution addresses a global problem. Although the framework conditions may be different, the combination of a reliable ultrasonic water meter with an energy-optimized e-SIM and NB-IoT technology is a global solution. Especially in southern countries, the issue of water loss is a critical issue.
Heitland also focuses on quality when it comes to SIMs and uses a SIM that is actually used in the automotive sector, thus exceeding the industry standard. Jan Bangert, Deputy Managing Director at Heitland, speaks of an aha experience when using the test SIM card for the first time. For example, it is particularly difficult to receive data from meters that are installed in shafts or even in flooded shafts, and you often don't get a signal from 15cm of water above the meter. The colleagues wanted to do the stress test and threw a meter with the built-in Telekom SIM into a 2-meter-deep water tank under the production hall and were amazed when the meter transmitted data every day. It was immediately clear to Heitland: this is the technology we want to use.
It is a simple calculation example, says Mike G. Hiatt, Head of Marketing and Sales at Heitland: "A mechanical meter costs only about 1/3 to 1/4 of an ultrasonic meter, but after 6 years I need a new one. We quickly reach 50% costs just for the material. A meter change after 6 years then also costs. This alone brings me to similar costs compared to the purchase price for an ultrasonic meter with NB-IoT. Additional revenue due to better and fairer measured values (between 3 and 7%) and accurate billing as well as reduced process costs, as the reading is fully automatic, has not yet been considered. In its entirety, a mechanical meter costs far more than an ultrasonic meter over a service life of 12 years. Not to mention how convenient it is to read, exact cut-off date, with the ultrasonic meter now."
With conventional mechanical meters, utilities have to read their own meters on site or ask their consumers to read and submit meter readings by postcard. This is often inaccurate, error-prone, delayed and only possible once a year due to the great effort. Until now, there has been a lack of transparency to detect water losses at an early stage. With the specially developed NB-IoT ultrasonic water meter, which is connected via the Internet of Things (IoT), Heitland solves the problem. The measurement accuracy of the smart meter is more accurate than with conventional meters, even over many years of use, and daily consumption can also be viewed. When it comes to connectivity, Heitland relies on Deutsche Telekom's experience. The roaming offer was particularly convincing here. One framework agreement, one contact person, one platform for managing the SIM cards, regardless of where and to which provider the meter is delivered. All of this increases the accessibility of the meter even in remote areas and makes it easy to expand abroad. Deutsche Telekom's pre-payment offer makes billing with providers even easier, which is just as important given the number of metering points.
Finding suitable personnel is probably difficult in any industry. This is also the case with water providers. The physical replacement of the water meters is time-consuming and requires a lot of personnel. But there is also a high demand for personnel in the back office, when obtaining readings, maintenance and possibly processing complaints. Here, too, the innovative technology can help. Since the ultrasonic meter is not only more durable and transmits its data independently, but also has an internal memory, historical data can also be read out and used for analysis in the event of a complaint. The end consumer can also view this data directly via the associated smartphone app and set alarms in the event of malfunction (frost, leaks in the house installation and much more).
Since 1921, Ernst Heitland GmbH & Co. KG has been a reliable partner for water, gas and heat suppliers and offers planning security for all applications. As a manufacturer and product-independent sales partner of high-quality water, gas and heat meters, Heitland always offers the optimal solution for every requirement. The concentration on the German market, extensive warehousing of the most common products and the company's own delivery service guarantee fast delivery and comprehensive service.
With around 80 employees, they are the hidden champion in the water meter market: about one in three installed water meters in Germany comes from the company Heitland. Heitland swears by personal customer contact, supports with sample delivery and is also happy to manufacture individually for the customer. In addition to meters, they also offer software and work with exchange companies, so they can offer their customers an all-round service.
As Europe’s leading telecommunications provider, Deutsche Telekom IoT delivers end-to-end solutions for smart infrastructures and complex IoT projects worldwide. With our expertise and innovative technologies – including NB-IoT, eSIM, global roaming, IoT platforms, and mobile as well as satellite-based networks – we help companies make their processes more efficient, sustainable, and future-proof. This enables them to reduce complexity and unlock the full potential of the Internet of Things.
The right IoT connectivity coordinates IoT connections across platforms, integrates devices and data via API, and enables global control with the highest security standards. You can manage your IoT projects flexibly, efficiently, and independently of manufacturers.
Since 2016, Kerstin has been part of the IoT journey at Deutsche Telekom. Over the years, she has supported numerous marketing and cultural projects – always with the goal of making IoT tangible and relevant. She translates complex topics into clear, user-focused language and puts real customer success stories front and center. In the IoT blog, she highlights selected use cases and references, showing how companies create measurable value with IoT.
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