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Say goodbye to wasted water: How smart water meters help us conserve

January 5, 2016 by Leave a Comment

Say goodbye to wasted water: How smart water meters help us conserve
Dripping faucet

Photo by r. nial bradshaw, via Flickr.

We live in a thirsty world, but our water supply is dripping through our fingers.

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), dripping faucets and leaking fixtures alone can waste more than a trillion gallons of water annually nationwide, and billions (if not trillions) are wasted through aging infrastructure. With drought looming in the West, many states are facing a serious water crisis.

Unfortunately, we don’t really know how much water is being consumed or how much is lost in transit. However, “smart” water meters and their infrastructure can help establish an accurate baseline across an entire city or utility. This can help reduce water waste, identify leaks and generate vital usage data.

[Read more…]

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Filed Under: Home, Technology Tagged With: Advanced Metering Infrastructure, Advanced Water Meters, Automated Meter Reading, municipal government, Networked Cities, Water, Water Conservation, Water Meters

LED streetlights need smart controls

November 16, 2015 by 1 Comment

Difference in LED vs. high-pressure sodium streetlights.

Before and after Los Angeles replaced their high-pressure sodium streetlights with LEDs. © COPYRIGHT 2015 CITY OF LOS ANGELES. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

LEDs aren’t just for student science projects anymore.

Out on our city streets, LED streetlights are an emerging technology that use significantly less energy, offer improved light quality, and last longer. On an apples-to-apples, technology-to-technology comparison, LED streetlights easily beat out all the other streetlighting technologies.

No wonder, then, that cities nationwide are beginning to replace their streetlights with LEDs. However, many cities are missing out on the real opportunity with LED streetlights: smart controls and the potential for a networked city.

[Read more…]

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Filed Under: Home, Technology Tagged With: cities, controls, Energy Efficiency, LED streetlights, municipal government

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