Utilities
Finding the problem before the service fails
In utilities, most faults are only visible after the service has already gone. Loss and unplanned downtime are measured in resources as well as money, which changes what monitoring is worth.
Context
Industry context
What shapes technology decisions in this sector.
A utility network is hard to run efficiently without accurate, timely information. Leaks can continue undetected for long periods, meter reading can require site visits, and equipment faults may only become apparent after the service has failed.
Assets are spread thinly over distance and frequently have no mains power, which constrains what can be measured and how often. The binding constraint is usually power or access rather than the sensor itself.
Billing and operational data have to agree. When they do not, the disagreement is usually the more useful signal — and reconciling them is an integration task rather than a metering one.
Constraints
Key operational challenges
The conditions any solution here has to work within.
- Faults that are only visible after the service has already failed.
- Meter reading and inspection that still require site visits.
- Assets spread thinly over distance, often without mains power.
- Billing and monitoring data that need to agree with each other.
Capabilities
Relevant ZouhThings capabilities
What we can bring to this sector, stated as capability rather than track record.
Connected metering and sensing
Can support accurate consumption data, abnormal flow detection and pressure, tank level and pump performance monitoring.
Loss and leakage analytics
May enable identifying likely leaks from flow patterns rather than from a report after the fact.
Low-power deployment design
Designed for assets with no mains supply, where duty cycle and device lifetime set the ceiling on everything above them.
Reconciling operational and billing data
Relevant where monitoring and billing systems hold versions of the same reading and need to agree.
Solutions
Relevant solutions
Solution areas that apply here. Each links to how it is delivered.
Platforms
Relevant platforms
Platforms that would apply to this sector.
- MingoThings Mobility
- thethings.io
Applications
Example use cases
Possible applications, to show the shape of the work.
District metering and loss detection
Possible use cases include instrumenting a district to compare input against consumption and narrow where loss is occurring.
Pump and pressure monitoring
Can support monitoring pump performance and network pressure so a failure is anticipated rather than reported.
Tank level and overflow prevention
May enable alerting before a reservoir or tank overflows, which is usually cheaper than the consequence.
Remote meter reading
Designed for reducing routine site visits, with the caveat that coverage and device lifetime decide what is achievable.
These are possible use cases, described to illustrate what the technology can support in this sector. They are not descriptions of completed work, and none should be read as a reference. Where a confirmed project exists, it will be named and linked under Related projects. It is also not a claim to hold any operational or functional safety certification, and nothing here should be read as qualifying equipment or a system for a safety-related duty.
Security
Security considerations
What has to be decided early rather than added later.
Critical service assumptions
Relevant because a utility is critical infrastructure: availability and integrity of readings matter as much as confidentiality.
Physically exposed devices
Meters and sensors sit in accessible locations, so device identity, tamper indication and revocation are part of the design.
Segmentation from control systems
Monitoring must not become a path into a control system that can operate a valve or a pump.
Consumption data handled carefully
Consumption patterns can reveal occupancy; retention and access decided at design time rather than later.
This describes how we approach security in this sector. It is not a claim to hold any specific certification, accreditation or compliance attestation — where one exists, it will be named.
Integration
Integration considerations
Where the difficulty usually sits in this sector.
Existing meters and SCADA
Designed for working alongside installed metering and control systems, taking data through the interfaces they expose.
Intermittent connectivity
Can support local buffering and resynchronisation, with observed and received times kept separate.
Reading quality carried with the data
A quality flag lets a device say a reading exists but should not be acted on, which silence cannot express.
Alert routing agreed up front
Relevant because a utility alert with no named owner produces a monitoring programme nobody acts on.
Evidence
Related projects
Confirmed work in this sector, where any is published.
No project is published for this sector yet. When one is confirmed and approved for publication, it will appear here — so an empty section means exactly that, rather than work we cannot discuss.
Next step
Discuss a requirement in this sector
The useful conversation is usually about a specific asset, site or corridor rather than the sector in general.